Adventures of Minami Edogawa: First Crush
by CoolKid94
Summary: PART FOUR: Minami has pretty much gotten used to being a little girl now, but she gets thrown for a loop during a Kid heist when the thief stirs up some decidedly odd feelings. But when she looks like a little girl, what is she to do?
1. Heist Annoucement

NOTE: This is Part Four of the Minami Edogawa series. You can access Parts 1-3 from my profile. This story will reference events from those parts, so while it is possible to enjoy Part Four standalone, you may be a little lost when I reference events you don't know about.

* * *

So here I am, ready to start another part of the Minami Edogawa series after two years of silence. If any of my old fans are still here, I took a break from fanfiction to work on original material and I'm just now starting this back up. You should notice a definite increase in quality of my writing because of this. Part Four has been heavily requested ever since Part Three ended, so I hope you all will enjoy this!

This part will feature the Kaitou Kid and a female Conan (Minami), which may be why a lot of you are reading this. So I'm just going to say this now: while there will be ship tease between the two characters, their relationship will remain platonic for the time being. I may write another story later featuring Kid and Sakura Kudo (Minami's adult form), at which point all bets are off, but this is how it is right now. The story's called 'First Crush' and not 'First Love' for a reason. So sorry to all the KaiShin shippers. I hope you'll at least give the story a try before you flame me. :D

* * *

Chapter One

Minami was in a pretty happy mood. For the first time in the months since she'd become a girl, she was actually enjoying her situation. She still missed being a boy, and being a man even more than that, but she'd learned to live with it. It helped that Haibara and Agasa had quit teasing her about it early on.

One of the more recent reasons for her being happy was that Agasa had finally repaired the bodysuit she'd damaged. Minami hadn't been allowed to use it anymore since she'd gotten shot using it, but Agasa had shown it off at a conference and sold the patent to a tech company, so he was getting packets of money in the mail every month, some of which he gave to Minami as thanks for testing out the suit.

Today, Minami was at school looking at the news on her phone. The biggest piece of news was a new heist notice from the Kaitou Kid.

 _In two days, at the stroke of ten,_

 _I will pop in and take the Yellow Rose._

 _Kaitou Kid_

The drawing was accompanied by his usual caricature, which seemed to be grinning evilly at her. "It looks like you can't go this time," Haibara remarked, peering at the note. "If you go as a girl and act the same way as normal, you'll blow your cover."

"Then I'll do something unique to 'Minami'," she said, turning off the display and grinning. "Something I'd never do normally that'll make me stand out."

"Well, you could always act like a fangirl," she said, smirking.

"Don't be ridiculous; I'm trying to catch him, not cheer him on!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But you will be coming up with a gimmick, right? Kid's smart; he'll see through you if you're not careful. He found out your true identity with little problem the first time, so it's not that much of a stretch to assume he'll do it again."

"I know, Haibara!" Minami said, shutting her up. "I'm working on it, OK?"

Haibara stared at her for a moment before going back to her work. 'Why are you so agitated about this, anyways?' Minami thought.

XXX

That afternoon, the upcoming heist was all Sonoko could talk about. "You heard about it, didn't you Ran?" she asked excitedly.

"Of course!" she replied. "He's going to try to steal that rose thing over at the Beika Art Museum, right?"

"Yeah! It's a yellow stained glass rose covered with jewels. Legend has it that if two people touch the rose petals simultaneously, they'll fall hopelessly in love! Isn't that just romantic? Maybe I should ask Makoto-san to help guard it!"

"But aren't you two already in love? What do you need the rose for?"

"It's to confirm it, silly! But you do have a point; maybe I should call Shinichi-kun to guard it instead."

"Eh? Why?"

"It's for you Ran! If you two touch it, then you two will stay together forever! So before Kid shows up, you and Shinichi-kun need to go in there and touch the rose!"

Minami looked between the girls with a look of disinterest. The chances of Shinichi showing up were pretty slim, so the conversation was pretty much pointless. Besides that, it was pretty embarrassing.

"So what if Nakamori-keibu and Kid get into tug of war with the rose? Won't that be bad?"

"Kid-sama won't let that happen!" said Sonoko determinedly. "The note said he'd pop in, so he'll burrow in through the pedestal and take it that way. If he does that, then the people guarding it won't touch it when he's touching it." She glanced pointedly at Minami at this point, which made Minami start it surprise.

"That's right, Minami-chan, are you going to want to go?" Ran asked kindly.

"Of course!" she replied at once. She must've seemed a little _too_ into it, though, because Sonoko suddenly looked at her suspiciously.

"Why is it you want to go, little girl?" she asked suddenly. "It's because you like Kid-sama, isn't it?"

'Where'd that come from?' Minami thought, shaking her head and denying it as fast as possible.

"Oh, so you're only there because you want to save the rose? Sorry, but I'm not buying it."

"Come on, Sonoko, just leave her alone," said Ran. "As long as she wants to stop Kid, it doesn't matter why she's there, does it?"

"Maybe you're right," said Sonoko thoughtfully, still looking at Minami.

'Just what exactly is that girl thinking?' Minami thought.

XXX

Sonoko dropped her questioning of Minami, but she kept glancing at her suspiciously for the rest of the day, which was making Minami feel nervous. That was why she excused herself and went off alone. After walking around for a while, she ended up at Professor Agasa's house. As she reached the door, she heard it was very noisy inside.

"Oh, Minami-chan!" said Ayumi when she went inside. The four kids were busy playing a trivia game, so Minami took a seat nearby to watch. "It's me and Ai-chan vs. Genta-kun and Mitsuhiko-kun! Do you want to play?"

Minami wasn't really interested in the game, so she just said, "Nah, I'll just watch right now. Who's winning?"

"The girls," said Mitsuhiko in an annoyed tone. Reading off a card, he asked Haibara, "What is the purpose of a push-up bra?"When he realized what he'd just said, his face went bright red from shock and embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, but WHAT?" Haibara snatched the card from Mitsuhiko, read the contents, and then ripped it up. "Just what was he _thinking_ including a question like that?" she said, looking murderous.

'Just what kind of kids' trivia game is this?' Minami thought, stunned.

Ayumi suddenly shoved a paper in Minami's face saying, "Minami-chan, if you're not going to play, then you keep score!"

"Fine," she agreed, taking the pencil and paper from her. Since the last card was no more, she didn't give the girls a point.

Haibara, who still looked annoyed, took a card and read, "Kojima-kun, during Episode 86 of _Kamen Yaiba_ , what was the name of Yaiba's new girlfriend and what was her role?"

"Oh, I know!" Genta said suddenly. "Her name was Tomoko and she was the daughter of the bad guy! She was only dating Yaiba to try to figure out his secret identity!"

Minami didn't know the answer because she didn't watch the show, but from the stunned look on Ayumi's face, she figured he was right. 'OK, so the score is 12-5 in the girls' favor,' she thought, giving the guys a point.

As the game continued, Professor Agasa entered with cookies, which everyone except Haibara took one of. She prevented Agasa from taking one for himself, though, which made him sigh sadly. She was also staring at him suspiciously.

"How many prefectures are there in Japan?" Genta asked Ayumi.

"There are 46 prefectures!" Ayumi exclaimed.

"Sorry, Ayumi-chan, but there are actually 47," said Mitsuhiko apologetically.

"Eh?" Ayumi exclaimed. "Since when were there 47?"

"Since the Meiji period, specifically in 1888," said Haibara. "Still, it's pretty impressive you got so close."

"Really?" Ayumi asked, who was looking down.

"Of course!" Minami butted in. "With such large numbers, it's all too easy to get mixed up, so don't feel bad!"

Now Ayumi looked much happier. "Thanks, guys," she said quietly, smiling gently. "Then I'll ask the next question!" Taking the card from the box, she said, "Mitsuhiko-kun, what is the ancient capital of Japan?"

"Kyoto!" Mitsuhiko exclaimed.

As the kids continued, Minami turned to Agasa and asked, "Did you come up with all these questions, Hakase? That bra question shouldn't have been in a kids game."

"Subaru-san and I did," he confirmed. "I had him double check the questions so they weren't too hard or too easy for anybody. But there shouldn't have been any adult questions…"

"What do you mean 'for anybody'? Aren't they all the same?"

"Actually not. We made up a set of questions for each of you five based on your interests and your intelligence levels. For example," he took a card off a stack the kids hadn't touched, "Shinichi, here's one of yours. Let's see…Name the four Holmes novels in order of original publication in England."

"Oh, that's easy; they're _A Study in Scarlet_ , _The Sign of the Four_ , _The Hound of the Baskervilles_ , and _The Valley of Fear_."

"Well, of course you got that one; it's one of the easiest ones in your stack. Now, let's see how Ai-kun will handle one of her hard questions."

Mitsuhiko had picked up one of Haibara's cards and read, "A beaker in a lab contains a clear liquid. A label on the beaker reads 'Warning: contains acid.' A test of the liquid shows that its pH is .3 at 1 N. Identify the liquid."

Haibara stared at him for a minute before rounding on Agasa and asking. "I thought you said these questions were supposed to be _hard_. The answer is sulfuric acid, of course! That question is _really_ obvious!"

The three kids stared at her with identical confused looks. Haibara suddenly realized what she'd done and slowly sank down in her spot. "Uh, well, I mean the question is basically just a simple science fact written as a question. So you may want to fix it when you go through and remove all the more risqué questions."

Agasa and Minami shared identical sheepish grins before Haibara picked up one of Genta's cards and read, "How do you write 'baked potato' in kanji?"

"Get me some paper!" Genta shouted, looking absolutely gleeful. Ayumi got it for him, and he went to work on writing it while Mitsuhiko looked over his shoulder and tried to help.

"Kudo-kun," said Haibara, seeing the kids were distracted, "I was thinking that for the Kid heist, you may need some assistance in keeping your new cover. Would you mind if I went with you to assist with building it?"

Minami was very surprised, but she recovered quickly. "Well, if you want to come along, that's your business. I'm just hoping that Kid doesn't recognize you from the train incident."

"If he'd done that, he would've said something by now," she reminded him. "You've faced off with him several times since then."

"True enough," Minami grinned. If Haibara really wanted to tag along, she couldn't exactly stop her. But there was something _odd_ about her. It wasn't anything bad, just different.

* * *

In case you haven't noticed, the Minami Edogawa series is significantly goofier in tone than most other stories I write. So expect a lot of outlandish stuff in the chapters ahead. The previous parts had Minami tossing banana peels, a murderer in a skydiving suit, and Heiji nearly getting put in a dress, so there's virtually no limit to what I'll do as long as it's not something adult. I welcome ideas by you guys, too! Reviews and PMs are both fine if you want to comment. And don't forget to leave a favorite if you like it.

The bodysuit they mention comes from the latter half of Part Three, BTW.

Next chapter will be the first part of the Kid heist, so look forward to that.


	2. Kaitou Kid, Phantom Troll

And so the heist begins, featuring Kid deciding to troll Minami. I didn't get any reviews to the last chapter, just a few favorites, so I don't really know if anybody's into the story or not. I do respond to reviews and PMs, so don't hesitate to leave me on if you're enjoying the story.

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Chapter Two

"Oh, you're here, too, Ai-chan?" Ran asked as Minami and Haibara arrived at the detective agency at seven thirty.

"Yeah!" said Minami. "She wanted to come with us tonight! Is that OK?"

It might not have been OK if Sonoko or Kogoro were around to complain about it, but luckily they weren't. "Sure, I don't mind!" said Ran. "Is there any reason in particular you want to go, Ai-chan?" She leaned over and looked at the girl with a look of curiosity.

"Edogawa-san isn't the only one interested in things like this," she replied vaguely, her tone neutral.

Ran looked surprised for a moment before slowly smiling and saying, "Oh, I see how it is. It's Conan-kun, isn't it?"

'What?' Minami thought in surprise. She glanced over at Haibara to see an identical look of confusion on her face.

"What about Edogawa-kun?" Haibara asked.

"Oh, is it not him? I thought for sure he'd asked you to keep an eye on Minami-chan so she'd stay focused on Kid."

'Where'd that come from?' Minami thought.

Kogoro appeared from upstairs, unintentionally butting into the conversation. "What's she doing here?" he asked in surprise, jerking a thumb at Haibara.

"Ai-chan wanted to tag along," Ran told him.

Kogoro looked down at the two girls before giving in, saying, "Well, it's not like Kid can disguise as them, can he? So why not?" Grabbing his jacket, he went to the door and held it open. "Now, it's about time to go, isn't it? Let's move!"

XXX

Kaitou Kid entered the museum with no problem whatsoever. He was disguised as a janitor, so he had entered the employee entrance. Once inside, he snuck away to the main room, changing his disguise as he went so he looked like a patron. "Now, what am I up against?" he said to himself cockily as he made his way around the room.

He'd already set up all of his tricks, so the only thing he was really worried about were people interfering. Hakuba was overseas, so his only real problem would be Shinichi-as-Conan, if he showed. He secretly enjoyed it when the kid showed up simply because he made it more of a challenge and therefore more fun.

That was why he was disappointed when he didn't see the kid anywhere around. 'What, was there a field trip or something?' he thought, glancing at where Ran and Sonoko were busy chatting. They had two little kids with them, both girls. One Kid recognized from a prior heist, but the other he didn't, although she did seem familiar. Kogoro was standing nearby looking bored. 'So why would they all be here, but the kid isn't? He's a high school detective; you'd think he'd jump at the chance to stop me. Unless…' He weaved through the crowd until he was nearer to the group.

'Come to think of it, didn't I see something about a detective in the news?' he thought. He pulled out his phone and searched for the article. 'Yeah, here it is; a girl detective named Kudo Sakura, cousin of Kudo Shinichi, got shot a while ago. So does that mean this girl is…' He glanced over at them and an idea popped into his head. The Kaitou Kid was a gentleman to most girls, but when it came to detectives, anything was game. Slowly he left the room and headed for the girls' restroom, ready to put his plan into action. It might make his night more difficult, but that was half the challenge, wasn't it?

XXX

Minami glanced around the room looking for Kid, but with no clues it wasn't really much help. 'What's he planning?' she thought. When it came to Kid, just about anything was fair game. She honestly wouldn't be that surprised if he invaded the room with an army of cats. Or doves; that might actually be more likely than the cats.

"All non-police personnel need to leave!" Inspector Nakamori bellowed into a megaphone about five minutes before the schedule time, making everyone around him flinch from the noise. There was a lot of grumbling, but the guests did start to move, which was something. Then the doors suddenly shut and magnetically sealed themselves, trapping everybody inside. "What's going on?" Nakamori asked, pushing on the doors. "Hey! Get these doors open!" he yelled through his radio.

'You've got the room antsy now, so this is your chance to do something,' Minami thought, glancing around.

"All right, everyone, just calm down!" somebody shouted from the direction of the case. Looking around, Minami saw to her surprise a teenage girl standing on top of the rose case with Nakamori's megaphone. "If we give into fear, we'll just be giving Kid what he wants!"

The crowd slowly relaxed as the girl lowered the megaphone. Nakamori pushed his way back through the crowd and asked, "And just who are you, girl? Who do you think you are ordering people around?"

"Who am I? Just a detective."

Ran and Sonoko had been feverishly whispering with each other but made a break for the middle of the room. Minami thought she recognized the girl from somewhere, but couldn't place her face. "Well, it looks like we know where Kid is," Haibara said quietly.

"You're saying Kid is that girl?" Minami said. "How do you know that?"

Haibara looked at her with a very surprised look on her face. "Are you serious? You don't recognize yourself? The girl on the case is _you_ , Kudo-kun, as you looked as an adult girl."

Minami hadn't ever really looked at herself in the mirror while in her disguise, so she'd never known what she'd looked like. But since Haibara wasn't one to lie about something like this, she figured the girl was correct. Immediately she followed Ran and Sonoko through the crowd.

"You're a detective, huh?" Nakamori asked as Kid!Sakura jumped off the glass case. "You don't mind if I check, do you?"

"Check how?" she asked warily.

"Just a quick pinch will tell," he said nastily, getting closer and closer.

"How rude!" Sonoko said suddenly, grabbing Sakura by the arm. "Don't you know you should never pinch a girl's face? Come on, Sakura-chan!" She then dragged Sakura into the crowd to meet up with Ran, ignoring the look of surprise on Nakamori's face.

"So, what are you doing here, Sakura-chan?" Ran asked.

"I'm here to get Kid, of course!" she replied. "And I'm hoping for a bit of a challenge!"

Minami stared at 'Sakura' with a feeling of surprise flooding her mind. 'What is Kid planning?' she thought. 'And why would he disguise as someone who he knows nothing about?'

"It looks like this just got interesting," Haibara remarked snarkily.

"Oh be quiet," Minami said rudely. She kept her gaze on Kid the whole time, waiting for him to make a mistake or do something that would let her out him as a fake. She could've just blurted it out, but she'd learned that when Kid had disguised as Shinichi that he probably had some sort of plan to get out of being suspected when he was in such an obvious disguise. That meant she'd have to do something clever to expose him.

"Sakura-chan, are you feeling okay?" Ran asked suddenly.

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine. The bullet didn't even scar."

"No, that's not what I meant," said Ran, her eyes narrowing. "You're acting oddly, Sakura-chan. You're more like Sera-chan than yourself."

'I guess he thought I was a tomboy, too,' Minami thought.

"Are you _sure_ you're not Kid?" Sonoko asked, her eyes also narrowed.

"How could I be Kid? I've never met Kid!"

"Yeah, and that is what's so suspicious," said Ran, now advancing on Sakura and making her have to walk backwards with her hands in front of her. "Since Kid has never met you, if he disguised as you it wouldn't be perfect, now would it?"

'Go Ran!' Minami thought in surprise. Ran was hardly ever this proactive in dealing with criminals.

"Come on, Ran-chan, you know I'm me! In fact…" She was suddenly drowned out by the lights suddenly going out and smoke appearing from near the case with the rose.

Then Kid's voice rang out in the dark room as spotlights illuminated him as he stood on top of the case rose in hand. "Ladies and gentlemen!" he announced. "As I announced, I have now taken possession of the Yellow Rose. Thank you for your generosity."

"Wait Kid!" Nakamori shouted as he and some cops tried to jump him. There was another puff of smoke as Kid vanished into the crowd. A few seconds later, the lights came back on. Kid had resumed his disguise as Sakura, and was even in the exact same position. The doors leading back outside opened up, prompting Nakamori to shout "Don't let anybody out! Whoever goes out is Kid!"

The cops blocked the door, preventing people from leaving. Knowing Kid was still in the room left the remaining visitors either ecstatic or panicky. "If we're going to find Kid, let's narrow down the suspects," said Sakura, taking charge of their little group.

'How about you look in the mirror?' Minami thought irritably.

But both Ran and Sonoko were still suspicious. "You say that, but you still haven't proven you aren't Kid," said Ran, staring her down.

Sakura thought about it for a moment before saying, "Well, how about I tell you a secret about you that Shinichi told me?"

Ran's face went scarlet. "What kind of secret?" she asked hesitantly. Sakura beckoned her closer and whispered in her ear, making Ran's face turn even more scarlet. "Shinichi told you that?" she said shrilly.

"What is it Ran?" Sonoko asked expectantly.

"Oh, uh, nothing important," she replied, still blushing.

'What exactly did Kid tell her?' Minami thought, glaring at Kid!Sakura. 'On top of that, how does he know a secret about Ran anyways?'

"Oh, do you want to know?" Sakura asked Sonoko cheekily.

"No! Don't tell her!" Ran shouted, clapping her hands over Sakura's mouth. "You won't tell anybody that, will you?" Ran asked Sakura with a pleading look in her eyes.

Sakura clapped a hand on her shoulder and said, "Of course I won't, Ran-chan!"

Well, that was the last straw for Minami. 'I've got to get Kid off of her,' she thought. She walked forward, tugged on Sakura's pants leg, and said, "Sakura-neechan, I want a horsey ride!"

It was a very mortifying thing to ask, and it made the three teens stare at her. Haibara stood behind them trying not to laugh.

"Not right now, little girl," Sakura replied, letting go of Ran and bending over slightly. "I have to catch Kid first. Maybe later."

"Oh, okay! I want to help catch Kid, too!" Then, with no warning, Minami jumped up and grabbed Sakura's purse, which was a small, gaudy thing the _real_ Sakura would never be caught dead with. She was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, so it didn't even go with her outfit.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Sakura asked, wrapping her hands through the strap as Minami did likewise.

"Minami-chan!" Ran exclaimed, rushing forward and grabbing the girl around the waist. "Don't harass Sakura-chan! Let go already!"

But Minami didn't let go. Kid didn't have anywhere to hide the rose other than the purse, which is probably why he had it. The purse was one of those ones with a flap and a magnetic seal, not one of the zippered ones.

The purse titled sideways as they struggled. The struggle hadn't gone unnoticed by Nakamori, who had stopped hunting for Kid to try to break up the situation. Then the rose in the purse hit the flap, forcing it open. Minami and Kid both dropped their ends and grabbed for the rose, catching it in midair.

"It's the Yellow Rose!" Nakamori exclaimed. "Then you're Kid?" he asked Sakura. "That's why you didn't want me to check you, isn't it?" To the cops, he yelled, "It's Kid! Grab him!"

Sakura wrenched the rose out of Minami's grip, dropped another smoke bomb, and disappeared. "Sakura-chan really _was_ Kid?" Ran asked, putting Minami on the ground. Once Minami hit the ground, she took off running, chasing after Kid while Ran stood stock still, mortified.

"Earth to Ran!" said Sonoko, waving a hand in front of her face.

* * *

Kid being a troll is always hilarious as far as I'm concerned. Kid and several other Magic Kaito characters will make sporadic appearances throughout the story, so don't think this heist marks his only appearance.

Next chapter features the conclusion of this heist, Minami acting weird, and a missing Kid keychain that sparks a feud. I wonder what'll happen?


	3. Keychain Argument

Now for the heist conclusion and the promised feud. Warning: some characters act OOC in this chapter, but there's an in story reason for it. More on this later.

Many thanks to the one person that reviewed, BTW. :)

* * *

Chapter Three

Kid ran through the halls, heading for the roof. After the little girl had blown his disguise, security had increased tremendously, meaning he couldn't get back to the bathroom where he'd hidden his makeup kit. The doors were all blocked off, too, so he couldn't walk out with the rose normally.

That meant he'd have to get to the roof to use his hang glider. Lucky for him it was a nice night and he'd already incapacitated the guards up there. The stairs were guarded as well, so he shimmied into an air vent and crawled up that way. He'd ditched the mask and the wig, but the remainder of his disguise was intact, including the inflatable balloons under his shirt. They made it awkward for him to crawl correctly since he wasn't used to them.

Eventually he made it to the roof. "What an evening!" he complained, crawling out of the vent and stretching.

"Took you long enough," a voice said from behind him. Kid froze for a moment before recovering.

"You waited for me? How sweet!" he said sarcastically, lifting the rose to the moonlight. The big jewel in the base didn't have Pandora, though.

"It was your only way out after I unmasked you," Minami replied. "But you probably should've changed into something else before you got in the vents; I've been waiting almost ten minutes."

Kid responded by dropping more smoke and putting on his costume. "Well, it's not really a problem anymore, Little Miss Detective. How about this?" He walked forward and, with a flourish, put the rose right under Minami's nose. "I'll give you this as an apology for using your face and totally botching your personality. You're really not a tomboy like that other girl?"

Minami took the rose, but didn't say anything for a moment. "No, I'm not," she said at last. Kid, not wanting to stick around, raced to the edge and flew off on his hang glider.

'But that girl _was_ kind of cute, wasn't she?' he thought. 'As an adult, I mean. I think I didn't overdo my disguise on that part."

XXX

Ai Haibara was very surprised when she saw Minami coming back down the stairs with the rose in hand. Well, the fact she had the rose wasn't surprising; it was her odd demeanor that caught her attention. "What happened to _you_?" Haibara asked as Minami handed over the rose to a cop.

"Nothing too surprising," Minami replied. "The fool didn't take off his disguise before he crawled through the vents, so I had to wait a while for him. I think he made the chest a little big on his disguise."

"Oh, and how would you know that?" Haibara teased.

"It's just a gut feeling," she replied.

'What's up with him…her?' Haibara thought. 'She's so quiet compared to normal.' To her, she said, "Kudo-kun, are you feeling OK? You look weird."

Minami started. "Huh? Oh, I'm fine. I'm just a little distracted."

Haibara didn't get another chance to ask her anything else that night because Kogoro appeared to drag Minami home. 'Well, I'll see her later,' she thought.

Over the next few days, Minami acted pretty normally, so Haibara eventually decided that she'd just overanalyzed the situation. After all, she still wasn't quite used to the fact that a teenage boy was stuck as a little girl, so it was quite possible she just didn't know how to read Minami's emotions very well.

At school three days after the heist, Haibara walked into the classroom to find Ayumi and Minami in a heated argument, which for them was _very_ rare. Normally Mitsuhiko and Genta shut down any arguments between them before they got out of hand. But since Minami was a girl now, the two boys were now looking on fearfully rather than threatening to beat anybody up.

"I'm telling you I put it right here!" said Ayumi, looking through her bag.

"Well I don't have it!" Minami countered.

"So are you saying it grew legs and walked away? I put it in my bag this morning, gave it to you to hold while I tied my shoes, and now it's gone!"

"You lost your stuff and you're automatically blaming _me_?" Minami asked hotly.

"What are you two doing?" Haibara asked, butting her way into the conversation and shutting them down. Both girls started talking at once, trying to speak over each other. "HEY!" Haibara said loudly, silencing them. "Yoshida-san, what happened?"

Ayumi, looking tearful, explained, "Well, Dad bought me a Kaitou Kid keychain yesterday, so I put it in my bag to show you guys. But now it's gone!" She looked down and tears came to her eyes. "I know I put it in my bag, but since it's not there now it means somebody took it! And the only person who went near my bag is Minami-chan!"

"Edogawa-san, turn out your pockets," Haibara said, turning to the girl.

"Come on, Haibara," said Minami. "You know me better than that."

"I thought I did. Now turn out your pockets." Minami tried to protest more, but Haibara glared at her until she gave in.

"Oh, all right," she said, dumping her stuff on the desk. There was a cell phone, a handkerchief, and a number of other items like change and train tickets, but no keychain. Minami pulled her pockets inside out to prove they were empty. "Are you two happy now?"

Haibara hadn't really suspected her of theft, but she'd played along to put Ayumi's mind at ease. But her keychain was still missing, and she wouldn't feel better until it was found. "Yoshida-san, did anything else happen this morning?"

"No, not really. Well, I tripped over a crack in the sidewalk and nearly fell, but Genta-kun caught me."

Haibara glanced over at Genta, who quickly stood up and turned out his pockets, too. Again, there was no keychain. Haibara looked at Mitsuhiko, who quickly followed suit. He didn't have it, either.

"Are you sure it didn't just fall under your books or something?" Haibara asked Ayumi. Ayumi put her bag on her desk and rooted through it again, but came up empty. "Well, if you don't have it, and nobody has it in their pockets, then it's either in somebody's bag or it got thrown out when you tripped."

"No way…" said Ayumi sadly. Then she got a determined look on her face. "But I'm going to go look!"

"Wait, Yoshida-san," said Haibara, getting an idea. "Let's get the other three to go." Turning to them, she said, "Leave all your stuff here so we can search it while you three go search the route you took. If you all go, nobody can do anything suspicious."

The three of them looked at each other before getting up and leaving. "Now we just need to decide whose bag to search first," said Haibara.

"Rock-paper-scissors?" Ayumi suggested.

XXX

Minami was still annoyed, and for good reason. Ayumi should've known better than to just accuse her of stealing something of hers. Minami admitted she could've handled the situation better by not getting confrontational, but the fact the argument had happened at all was what was bugging her.

Why _did_ she get so fired up, anyways? Normally she would've just said no and tried to help her out.

"Oh, isn't that it?" Mitsuhiko asked, pointing. They ran to the location and sure enough, poking out from under a vending machine, was the keychain.

Minami bent over and picked it up. It was pretty standard for Kid merchandise, but it was kind of cute in its own way. It being a chibi version of Kid probably helped with that. It had the initials A.Y. written in marker on the feet. "Looks like it is," she said, showing it to them. "We should probably head back now before class starts."

The guys agreed, so they turned around and headed back to the school. On the way, Minami sent a text to Ayumi saying they'd found it. 'But what is this feeling?' she thought, hitting the send button. It had started during the heist, but wasn't going away any time soon. The bad part was that she couldn't identify just what _kind_ of feeling it was. It was like she was impressed yet annoyed at the same time, and her heart kept racing. She didn't even know just what had happened to her to trigger it in the first place. She eventually decided to just put the whole thing out of her mind.

The three of them arrived back at school just in the nick of time. The errand had only taken fifteen minutes, so luckily nobody had noticed they'd left. "Here you go, Ayumi-chan!" Minami said, handing her the keychain.

"Oh, thank you!" she exclaimed, her face lighting up. "And…I'm sorry for just accusing you earlier without proof. I guess I was just freaked out."

Minami, who knew how Ayumi normally acted, had figured that, but she had also gotten emotionally riled up for some reason. "Well, it's my fault, too, Ayumi-chan. I shouldn't have started that argument in the first place. So, are we OK now?"

"Yes!" said Ayumi, smiling. "But I still feel bad about accusing you. How about this? After school today, we'll both go and get you a keychain of your own! Or something else if you want that."

Minami was very surprised. "You don't have to do that, Ayumi-chan!"

"No, but I want to! You'll come right?" She grabbed Minami by the hand and stared into her eyes.

"Uh, sure," said Minami, not having the heart to back out.

"You'll come, too, right Ai-chan?" Ayumi asked, looking at Haibara.

Now it was her turn to act surprised. "But Yoshida-san, you didn't do anything to me."

"But you're my friend, Ai-chan! Isn't that reason enough to want to hang out?"

"That's right, _Ai-chan_ ," Minami teased, purposely calling her by her name. "Do you have something else to do or something?"

Haibara glared at Minami sharply before saying, "Well, when you put it that way, I suppose I don't have a choice, do I?"

"Then I'll go too!" said Mitsuhiko.

"Me too!" Genta added.

But Ayumi turned to them and said, "I didn't know you guys cared about something like this. You two like keychains?"

The two guys looked at each other before making 'Uh' noises and not really saying anything.

'They're don't want to go for the keychains!' Minami thought.

Just then Miss Kobayashi entered the room, signaling the start of the school day.

* * *

Can anybody guess the reason Minami's acting so weird? Maybe that rose actually does have magical powers or something. :P

Anyways, next chapter details the shopping trip along with Haibara going all Jersey Shore on a sleazeball. OK, not really, but it's still worth reading, right? It's not every day she gets that mad over something. But what could that be?


	4. Haibara's Figurine

Moral of the story: Don't tick off Ai Haibara. That's all I'll say about that.

* * *

Chapter Four

That afternoon, Minami, Ayumi, and Haibara were all at the store where Ayumi had bought her keychain. It was a small shop in Akibahara selling all kinds of anime stuff. The Kid stuff was just part of what they had in stock. 'Kid would probably have a fit if he knew about this,' Minami thought, looking through the stuff. There were keychains, plushies, and all sorts of other goods with Kid's caricature placed on it, like mugs.

"What do you think, Ai-chan?" Ayumi asked, grabbing a large plushie the size of a stuffed animal and hugging it to her chest.

"It's a little odd for you, but it works," she replied honestly.

"Yeah, and I really want it, but it's too expensive," said Ayumi sadly. Putting it back, she asked, "Have you two decided on anything yet? There's a lot of stuff to pick from."

"Weren't you saying you wanted a Fujiko Mine doll?" Minami asked Haibara, pointing at the appropriate location.

"No!" she scoffed. Then she went over, picked up a Lupin III keychain, and gave it to Minami. "But just for that, you're buying _this_ for me."

Minami stared at the keychain in surprise."Are you serious?"

"No I'm not serious! Like I'd want something like that!" She dumped the keychain on Minami's head and went back to looking around.

"Minami-chan, you shouldn't tease Ai-chan," said Ayumi quietly, taking care so that Haibara wouldn't hear. "She doesn't show it, but she can be really sensitive sometimes."

"What do you mean?" Minami asked in surprise.

"Well, she acts smart and aloof, but she has this sensitive side, too, which she hardly ever shows unless she's around a cute dog or cat. She gets all bubbly and happy whenever that happens. So don't tease her too much or she won't show that side of her at all."

"Do you worry about her?"

"Sometimes. She acts so distant when something bad happens that I can't help but worry. And then Conan-kun left. I don't think I've ever seen her look so down."

"Well, they were friends, weren't they? Wouldn't that be why?"

"That's what I thought at first, but I don't think it's that. I don't think it's because she likes him or anything, either. It's like there's some kind of dark, regretful aura hanging around her. Does that make sense?"

Unfortunately for Minami, it did. She'd repeatedly told Haibara it wasn't her fault for her shrinking and turning her into a girl, but it was apparently still weighing on her. But she couldn't tell Ayumi that without blowing her cover. "Maybe you're right about her being bothered by something," she told Ayumi. "I'll talk to her later about it to see if she'll open up."

"Well, OK, but be careful to not make her suspicious. I don't want her to get mad at you."

"Sure," she told Ayumi, turning her attention back to the merchandise. Minami eventually settled on a cheap keychain featuring Kid. It didn't have a figure on it; instead it was a piece of square metal with Kid's caricature pasted on. Haibara, to the surprise of both of them, actually bought something, although she didn't let them see no matter how much Ayumi asked. From the size of the box it was probably a figurine of something.

When they were done at the store, they all headed home, first dropping Ayumi off at her apartment before Haibara and Minami headed for Agasa's house.

"Hey, Haibara," Minami began hesitantly, "could I ask you something personal?"

"Depends on how personal it is," Haibara said in monotone.

Minami knew she'd have to be careful if she wanted an answer, so she asked, "Have I seemed…odd to you lately?"

That got Haibara's attention. "Sure, you have. You've been acting like a girl even when I'm the only one around and you don't need to. It's actually kind of creepy."

"You're calling me creepy?"Minami asked in surprise.

"You are when I know who you are, but you act like a completely different person," she explained. "Maybe it's from hormonal imbalance or something. An increase in estrogen or something like that might be making you behave more girly."

"That's completely ridiculous," said Minami flatly.

"I was just kidding," Haibara replied, smirking. "I know you're just getting into your role. What I don't understand is why you've been crushing on guys lately."

"WHAT?" Minami spluttered.

"Oh, please; don't try to hide it from me. First it was Hattori-kun and now it's Kaitou Kid."

"Haibara, what are you saying?"

Haibara stopped walking and stared at Minami. "Well there's one thing you inherited from being a guy; you're still just as clueless about yourself as ever." Then she walked away, leaving Minami staring after her for a moment before she caught up.

"You're totally serious, aren't you?" she realized.

"It's one of the few times I am," she replied. "You came down the stairs after meeting Kid the other day with the _giddiest_ look on your face. And you hung out with Hattori-kun enough to make Toyama-san jealous. I heard Ran-san reassuring her later on when you two weren't around."

"Is that what you meant by me being creepy?"

"No, I was just joking about that. It's the twenty-first century, so I figure you can date whoever you want no matter who they are. I'm just a little bit surprised you gave up on Ran-chan."

"Did you just call her 'Ran-chan?" Minami asked suddenly.

"I said Ran- _san_ ," Haibara corrected. "I thought detectives were supposed to have good ears."

'I'm pretty sure you said 'Ran-chan,' Minami thought. She was tired of being on the spot, so she decided to change the subject. "So anyways, what about you, Haibara?"

"What about me?"

"Well, you've been acting a little weird lately, too. You even bought whatever it was you bought earlier."

"Yeah, I did. So what?"

"Well, it's a little odd for you. Did something happen?"

"If you're asking if I turned into a boy, then no I didn't."

"Uh, that's not what I meant."

They turned a corner and continued walking. An oncoming bicyclist wasn't paying attention and passed them a little too closely, clipping Haibara's shoulder. "Ouch!" she exclaimed, gritting her teeth and falling to her knees while she clutched her shoulder. It was a shallow graze, so it wasn't too serious, but the biker didn't even stop.

"Hey, wait!" Minami shouted. The biker glanced back, gave her a nasty look, and kept on going. Fed up, Minami popped out a soccer ball, adjusted her shoes, and yelled, "I said STOP!" as she kicked the ball at him. The ball ricocheted off a wall and went under his front tire right as he was passing, stopping the bike cold and flipping him over the handlebars. As the man crashed to the ground, Minami raced forward, seething.

"What the heck is your problem?" the guy asked rudely, picking himself up.

"You hit my friend and tried to ride away. That qualifies as a hit-and-run."

"Hit-and-runs only apply to cars, little girl. And I'm meeting a girl for coffee, so I really can't stick around." By this point Haibara had caught up with Minami, holding a handkerchief over the graze. "But I guess I did hurt your friend. I tell you what; since I'm into lolis, and you two are pretty cute, how about I take you to my apartment for some tea and cake?"

Haibara hadn't really cared about the guy before, but that little comment completely infuriated her to the point that she was just as angry as Minami. "Tell me you did not just say that," she said quietly, but dangerously.

"What, you don't like cake?" he said innocently.

"Kudo-kun, your suspenders," she said suddenly, holding out a hand to Minami. Minami had the suspenders even though she didn't need them, so she passed them over.

"What are you planning?" she asked warily.

"Oh, I've had a lot of rage boiling for the last few moments, so I figure I should let it out," she replied sweetly, snapping the suspenders like a whip with a loud cracking sound.

'Scary…' Minami thought. The jerk seemed to have realized that, too, because now he was backing up.

"Look, little girl, I was just kidding about the tea and cake thing!" he said, backing into a wall while pursued by Haibara.

"No you weren't," she said quietly. Then she lifted the lid on her watch, shot a dart at him, and knocked him out. "Kudo-kun, get over here," she commanded, beckoning Minami over.

Minami approached cautiously. "Just what do you have in mind?" she asked hesitantly as Haibara started to remove the man's jacket. The girl was acting so out of character she was getting seriously freaked out now.

"We're going to humiliate him," she said simply. "Now, follow my instructions and don't question me."

'Uh, you bet," Minami thought, terrified. First Haibara stripped the creep down to his underwear, tossing his clothes over a wall into a yard. Then the two girls dragged him over to a light pole and used the suspenders to tie him to it. Once he was secure, Haibara took a piece of paper, wrote 'Lolicon' on it, and taped it to his chest. Finally, just to add the icing on the cake, she took a picture of him with her phone and uploaded it to the Internet.

"That should just about wrap it up," Haibara said eventually, still smirking evilly. The dart was starting to wear off now, and the creep was regaining consciousness.

"Huh? Where am I?" he asked groggily.

"Where you belong," said Haibara, hands on hips. "And you'll stay there until you learn your lesson."

"You little…" he grunted, moving against his bonds to try to free himself. "And what's with this sign?"

"Oh, that's so the people online know why you're there."

"People…online?"

"She took a picture of you and posted it online," said Minami.

"And I'll take another one to send to your friends and family if you don't cooperate," said Haibara, holding his phone out in front of her.

"What? No! My parents will cut me off if you send that! I'll get fired from my job!"

"Then apologize," said Haibara. "Loudly and clearly."

"I'm sorry," he said meekly.

"For?"

"For trying to feed you cake. Clearly that offended you."

"Not good enough," said Haibara, taking a step closer to him and crossing her arms. "You will apologize for your innuendo or your family _will_ get this picture. I'm not joking."

"I'd do what she says," Minami piped up.

Admitting defeat, the guy said, "OK! I'm sorry I hit you, I'm sorry I made a pass at you, and I'm sorry for being a loser! Are you happy now?"

"Not really, but I'm tired and ready to go home," she said, tossing his phone in his lap.

"So you're going to untie him?" Minami asked.

"Why, do you think we should just leave him?"

"That's up to you, Haibara," she responded, not wanting to get involved. Silently, Haibara went to the suspender switch, clicked it, and they fell away.

"Oh, thank you!" said the creep. Then he bolted to his bike and pedaled away as fast as he could go.

Haibara tossed the suspenders back at Minami and said, "Kudo-kun, I trust you won't tell anybody about that, right?"

"Yeah, sure, but Haibara…that was really odd for you."

"Kudo-kun, there are certain things in this world I will not stand for. Self-centered men taking advantage of young girls for perverted reasons is on that list. Do you have a problem with that?"

"No, no problem!" Minami said defensively. The two girls continued their walk to Agasa's house, Minami now much more wary of the other girl.

"By the way, you asked me what I bought earlier. Would you like to see?"

"I thought you didn't want to show me."

"Normally I wouldn't, but I'm in a better mood now. So here." She took something out of the bag and passed it over to Minami. It was a figurine of Ranma from _Ranma ½_. Specifically, it was male Ranma.

"Oh, so this is all it was?" Minami said, looking it over. "I didn't know you liked these kinds of things, Haibara."

Haibara took the figurine back and put it away. "I didn't get it because I liked it. I got it for…other reasons."

Minami thought back to what Ayumi had said earlier and realized just what those 'other reasons' were. "Haibara, if this is about me, I've told you before it wasn't your fault. Why do you keep beating yourself up like this?"

The girl just stared at her before turning away. "Yep, I stand by what I said before," she said cryptically.

* * *

If you are in any way familiar with _Ranma 1/2_ , you probably got what I was getting at before I spelled it out for you. And if you're still not sure, just PM me about it and I'll explain it better.

For those of you worried about Haibara going OOC, she only got super mad _after_ the crack the guy made about being into lolicon. During any future appearances in this story, she'll have calmed down and be herself again.

The next chapter introduces more _Magic Kaito_ characters besides Kid. And somebody gets jealous of a certain someone else. Don't forget to leave a favorite and a review if you enjoyed this, and look forward to more!

Note: Heiji and Kazuha appeared in Part 2: The New Alias. Give it a read if you haven't already! :)


	5. Akako Gets Spooked

So there were no updates this week because I've been incredibly busy with school. Meaning I had three papers due this week and two oral presentations. There's another presentation Monday. But since the bulk of the work is over, updates should be pretty normal again now. It's not that I've been too tired to write, it's that I was too tired to actually publish anything on the site. So I've got a fair bit of content ready to go as soon as I proofread it some more. So, there's my lengthy apology. :D

Anyways, about this chapter. We get to see two POVs that haven't appeared yet in this story, and some _Magic Kaito_ characters appear as promised. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Chapter Five

Aoko Nakamori sat in class staring at Kaito. He'd been acting oddly for the past few days, and she didn't know whether she should be angry or worried. "Kaito," she whispered, "Pay attention to the teacher!"

"Yeah, yeah," he said absentmindedly.

'What's with him?' she thought, now definitely annoyed. Kaito yawned and looked at his phone under the desk, not paying any attention. She craned her neck to try to see what he was doing, but she couldn't see anything.

"Nakamori Aoko!" the teacher said suddenly. "No cheating off Kuroba-kun's paper!"

"Oh, it's not like that!" said Aoko, feeling her face going red as the class stared. 'Oh well, I'll ask him later,' she thought.

She got her chance during lunch. With no one to keep her from talking to Kaito, she took full advantage of the opportunity. "Kaito!" she exclaimed loudly, making him jump from the noise.

"Geez, you're loud!" he complained. "What do you want?"

"You're joining me for lunch today!" she declared, scooting her desk over and sitting next to him. "Here," she said, giving him a homemade bento.

"Looks good!" he said, finally tearing his attention off what he was doing. "Itadakimasu!" he said, chowing down. "What is this, by the way?" he asked Aoko through bites of food.

"Just some fish," she teased.

"WHAT?" he exclaimed, looking at the bento like it was full of worms.

"Like Aoko would make you eat fish!" Aoko laughed, pointing at him. "That was payback for that crack you made the other day about my new pendant being better suited for Akako-chan!"

"Oh, are you talking about me?" Akako asked, butting into the conversation.

"Aoko was making rude comments about you," said Kaito, not looking up.

"What? No! Akako-chan, I never said anything like that!"

"Nakamori-san, you don't need to apologize for such a vulgar man's lies."

"Vulgar? Look who's talking Akako- _obaasama_!" Kaito said rudely.

Akako, who was proud of her looks, did not take that comment lightly. "Kuroba-kun," she said, bending over so her face was an inch from his, "would you care to repeat that?"

Kaito was very surprised that she was so close to him. "Uh, not really," he said meekly.

"Say that again and I'll get even closer," she replied sweetly before standing up and walking away.

"Kaito, you shouldn't tease Akako-chan!" Aoko chided him. Kaito said nothing, eating in silence while he looked at something on his phone. "And just what are you looking at?" Aoko asked, leaning over to see. Kaito moved his phone to prevent this, so Aoko just took the phone from him.

"Hey! Give it back!" he said, reaching for it.

The phone was on its title screen, which showed a picture of a teenage girl in a ponytail. She wore no makeup and the ponytail was pretty sloppy, but she was still pretty cute. It was something in her face. "Kaito, who is this?" Aoko asked, feeling jealousy in her stomach.

"Just a friend," he said, snapping his fingers. There was a puff of smoke as his phone seemingly teleported out of Aoko's hand and back into his.

'Yeah right,' Aoko thought. 'You've been distracted all morning and you have a picture of a cute girl on your phone.' She felt angry and hurt, but then she realized that the girl could easily be a celebrity or a fellow magician or something. Either way, she didn't really want to confront Kaito about the girl by herself. "You know, I'm going to apologize to Akako-chan again."

"Yeah, sure," he replied rudely, not really listening.

'Is he really that into that girl? She's not _that_ cute,' Aoko thought. Akako was now surrounded by guys offering to eat lunch with her, and she seemed to be enjoying the attention. "Akako-chan!" Aoko called out, squeezing through the crowd.

"Nakamori-san!" said Akako, noticing her alarm. "What's the matter?"

Aoko leaned over and whispered, "I think there's something wrong with Kaito! He's been acting weird all morning looking at some girl's picture."

 _That_ got Akako's attention. Standing up, she addressed the guys, saying, "Sorry, everyone, but I've already made plans with Nakamori-san for lunch."

"No way! Akako-sama! Wait!" The guys complained in whiney tones, but Akako was no longer paying them any attention. Eventually they dispersed, leaving the girls alone.

Aoko looked over at Kaito to see he was being teased by Keiko now, but even she was having little effect on him. "Nakamori-san, I believe this calls for some extreme measures," said Akako, taking on a determined look. "Now, let's get to work."

XXX

Kaito felt a sense of giddy euphoria as he worked. He and Jii were busy researching the locations for more Grand Jewels. The Yellow Rose had been one of three identical roses, each with a Grand Jewel hidden in the base. The first one had turned up no Pandora, so there were two more to find. That was what he had been working on in class. He'd put Sakura's picture as his wallpaper during the heist and had never changed it back, but that hadn't been why he was looking at his phone.

No, he'd been busy emailing people about the locations of the other two roses. Aoko had kept butting in when he kept expecting messages, so he'd shooed her off each time so she wouldn't find out what he was doing.

"Oh, is that so?" Jii asked, talking into the phone. The receiver had a cloth over it to disguise his voice. "Well, thank you for that! How about I treat you to a drink later on?" There was a response on the other end, and then he ended the call.

"Did you find another one?" Kaito asked hopefully.

"I tracked down the Blue Rose," said Jii. "It's in Hong Kong right now, but I doubt we can afford another trip overseas."

"And the Red Rose?"

"I haven't found it yet," said Jii. "I've checked most big museums, so I'm thinking some private collector has it."

"Who would want some musty glass roses anyways?" Kaito asked, leaning back in his chair and yawning. "Sure it's full of jewels, but most of the jewels are just cheap things. But since they have one larger jewel each, they could each hold Pandora, right?"

Jii looked at Kaito before asking, "Do you know the story behind those roses?"

"No. Why, is it cool?"

"That depends on your definition. No one knows when or how they were made, but they were found in America during the 1950s in an old warehouse. But they each have their own magic powers, or so people claim."

"Magic powers?"

"Yes. Each rose, when touched by two people simultaneously, has some kind of effect on those two people. The Yellow Rose sparks feelings of love, the Blue Rose inspires feelings of peace, and the Red Rose starts feelings of hate."

"Sounds bogus," said Kaito, practicing some sleight of hand.

"Maybe so, but magic _does_ exist, so there could very well be some truth behind the stories."

"Anyways, how are we going to check those roses if we can't go to the first one and we have no idea where the second one is?" Kaito wondered. Then he hit on an idea. "Wait, the issue on the Blue Rose is money, right? Then how about we put the idea into someone's head to collect them for us? Somebody with a lot of money."

"You're not thinking what I think you're thinking, are you?" Jii asked.

"Depends on what you're thinking," Kaito grinned.

"Speaking of magic, I saw Akako-chan and Aoko-chan heading for Beika earlier," said Jii.

"Beika? What's out there that they'd want to…" he suddenly realized just _what_ they were after. Or rather _who_ lived out there. "Jii-chan, I'll be back later," he said, racing out the door.

XXX

Kogoro Mouri was sitting in his agency watching Yoko reruns when the doorbell rang. 'Great, it's a client,' he thought in annoyance. "Yeah, yeah; I'm coming!" he shouted as the bell rang again. He stood up, straightened his tie, and went to the door.

He opened it to find himself face to face with…Ran. Well OK, it wasn't Ran, but a really close look-alike. She was with another very beautiful girl whose long hair had a reddish hue to it. "How can I help you girls?" he asked politely, his agitation completely forgotten as he let them in.

The two girls looked no older than Ran and were dressed in school sailor uniforms. Sitting down on a couch, the girl that looked like Ran asked, "We want a background check done on somebody."

"You have a name and a photo?" Kogoro asked, taking on a professional tone as he sat down across from them. He offered them some instant tea, which they accepted.

"Here's a picture," the girl said, passing it over. "Her name is Sakura."

Kogoro recognized the girl instantly. It was that detective brat's cousin, Sakura Kudo. "So, what do you want to know? And more than that, why do you want to know?" he asked, looking at the picture out of suspicion it might be a look alike. After all, a look alike to Ran was sitting in his office at the moment.

This time the other girl spoke up. "We believe that one of our friends might have a bit of a crush on this girl, so we wanted to know who she was and whether they have interacted before."

"Well, I can tell you right now that this girl is currently in Hokkaido, so there's nothing to worry about if you think your friend is being seduced," said Kogoro, handing the photo back over. "So if anything it's probably just an innocent crush. Nothing to worry about!"

The first girl looked a little reassured, but the pretty girl most certainly didn't. If anything she was _more_ suspicious. "You're sure this girl is up north and didn't just lie to you?"

"Well, Kaitou Kid disguised as her during his latest heist, so if she was anywhere around, she would've come out and started complaining about it," Kogoro explained. "She's kind of like my daughter in that way; she's always criticizing me."

Just then the door to the landing opened and four kids poked their heads in. "Oh, are you busy Mouri-tantei?" Minami asked, seeing he was with someone.

The pretty girl was now staring at Minami with a look of utter astonishment. However, she quickly recovered. "Aoko-chan," she told her companion in a much more cheerful voice than before, "I think we'd better leave and allow Mouri-tantei to spend time with his family. Thank you for your assistance Mouri-san." She bowed once before dragging the other girl out the door as fast as she could go, nearly running over the kids in her haste. .

"Hey, wait!" said Kogoro, standing up. The girls didn't wait, though, so he rounded on Minami. "And just what was that for?" he asked. "You chased off my clients! I hope you're happy!" Fuming, he took the teacups into the back. When he returned, the kids were crowding around something one of the girls had left behind. Probably the one that looked like Ran; she seemed a little ditzy.

"Ojisan, what is this?" Minami asked, showing him what it was. It was the picture of Sakura.

"Somebody those girls wanted me to find," he replied, plopping back down at the desk. "They thought she was trying to seduce one of their friends."

Minami looked very surprised at this. "You know what, guys? We should return the picture!" Minami declared suddenly.

"Yeah!" the kids shouted, happy to have something to do. A moment later, the four of them had left.

'Now, where was I, Yoko-chan?' Kogoro thought as he returned to his video.

* * *

Akako can detect auras from people, so she recognized Minami as being more than what meets the eye. That's why she got spooked and bolted.

Next chapter involves Kid interfering in the girls' investigation and a little something that's gonna make KaitoXAoko shippers go NUTS. Look forward to it and hit that favorite button and leave a review if you're enjoying the story! :)


	6. Ran Buys Cat Food

So we've got three different scenarios here. First is the investigation, second is the promised Kaito/Aoko moment, and third is more setup for the heist, which is from a new POV. Hope you're ready for it! :D

* * *

Chapter Six

Minami walked down the street as quickly as she could. The pretty girl had gotten spooked for some reason when she'd looked at her, and she wanted to know why. "Excuse me!" she called out as the kids neared the girls.

"Oh, what is it?" the other girl asked, looking around.

"You left this," said Minami, showing her the picture.

"Oh, I did? Thank you, little girl! But you know, I just realized something." She was looking between Minami and the picture. "You and this girl look kind of similar. Are you two related?"

"Distantly," said Minami. 'Speaking of similarities, you look kind of like Ran,' she thought.

"Well, give me a call if she ever comes back to Tokyo, OK?" the girl said, writing something on a piece of paper before giving it to Minami. "You'll call, right?"

"Uh, sure!" Minami agreed. "But why do you care so much?"

At this point the other girl spoke up. "She's just a little jealous is all. Now, didn't you have something to do, Nakamori-san?"

"Oh! Right! Well I'll see you guys later, then!" The two girls then walked away, chatting quietly.

"They're suspicious," said Mitsuhiko at once, taking on a look of deep thought. "Why do they have a picture of Sakura-san and how do they know her?"

"Maybe she works at some restaurant they like," Genta suggested.

"Oh, it's always about food with you, Genta-kun!" said Ayumi.

Minami wanted to follow the girls and ask more questions, but she lost her chance because the real Ran arrived. "Oh, what are you guys doing out here?" Ran asked.

"A client of occhan's left a picture, so we were returning it," Minami explained.

"Oh, a client, huh?" Ran said. "Was it those two girls I passed?"

"Oh, yeah!"

Ran's face took on a thoughtful expression. "Come to think of it, the girl with the flat chest looked kind of familiar. I wonder where I've seen her before?"

'In the mirror!' Minami thought.

"Well, it doesn't really matter I guess," she replied, clutching a shopping bag tightly. "Listen, Minami-chan, it's lucky we ran into each other. I have an urgent errand to go do and I don't want to have to lug my shopping with me. I was going to go drop it off at home, but could you do if for me?"

"Uh, sure," said Minami, taking the bag. It was full of cans and very heavy, so the two guys had to help her carry it. "Wow, this is heavy, isn't it Ran-nee.." she looked up, but Ran had already disappeared. "Did you guys see where she went?" she asked her friends.

The kids looked around, but nobody could see Ran. It was like she'd disappeared into thin air. Minami checked the shopping bag, but it was full of cat food.

"Uh, why does Ran-san have cat food?" Mitsuhiko asked hesitantly.

"It's for Goro-chan of course!" said Ayumi. "He must be upstairs at Minami-chan's house!"

'No he's not,' Minami thought. 'So what's with the cat food?'

Since they were stuck with the cat food, the kids returned to the Agency to drop it off. When they walked in the front door, though, they got the shock of their life. Sitting on the couches inside were Ran, Sonoko, and Sera. Kogoro was busy watching his video, but was shooting nasty glares at the girls every ten seconds. Each of the three girls had a cup of tea and were busy talking. "How?" Minami said, lost for words.

"Oh, hello!" Sera exclaimed, waving at them.

Ran jumped up at once and raced forward. "Did you four go shopping, Minami-chan? I'll take the food from you!"

'What's with her today?' Minami thought as Ran took the cat food into the back. She was gone for about ten seconds before she marched back in, a can of cat food in hand.

"You bought thirty cans of _cat food_?" she asked, no longer sounding friendly. "We don't even have a cat! What am I supposed to do with this?"

Every single person in the room shrunk back from her anger. "But…you gave us that, Ran-neechan," said Minami quietly.

Ran looked very surprised. "What do you mean I gave it to you? I've been with Sonoko and Sera-chan all afternoon, and we haven't seen you!"

'What?' Minami thought. 'Then who was that we saw?' Then she remembered how heavy the bag had been and how the 'Ran' had disappeared. 'Don't tell me it was _him_ ,' she thought.

"Yeah, Ran's been with us," said Sonoko.

"Then who did we see?" the three kids said quietly, muttering to themselves. Then Genta looked at the can Ran was holding and pointed.

"Ahh! It was HIM!"

Ran turned the can over and saw Kid's caricature drawn in marker on the bottom. "Kid? What did he want?"

'I don't know, but I'm going to find out,' Minami thought.

XXX

Kaito walked a ways behind the two girls dressed like an innocent schoolgirl. He wasn't anybody in particular this time, just somebody generic they wouldn't notice. 'I know they're after Sakura-chan,' he thought. 'But at least they haven't figured out they just met her. Still, the real question is _why_.'

Akako kept glancing backwards at him, which made Kaito realize she thought they were being followed. As a distraction, he pulled out his phone and pretended to text to throw her off. Then he realized he could text Aoko for real to see what was going on.

" _I went to talk to you and you weren't there_ ," Kaito wrote. He hit send and waited. Ahead of him, he watched as Aoko realized her phone was going off and got it out. The two girls spoke for a moment before Akako snatched the phone and wrote out a reply.

" _I'm out with Kandou-kun from school! He invited me out on a date and I thought I'd go!_ "

'Really, you're lying to me?' Kaito thought in annoyance. 'Well two can play that game!' " _Well I hope you have fun, then! I guess it's good I still have the receipt for the red roses I've got_."

Almost immediately there was a lot of squealing from ahead of him as Aoko went totally nuts. She was so loud that Kaito could hear every word she said. "Do you see this, Akako-chan? Red roses! You know what red roses mean, don't you?" Akako replied calmly, too low for Kaito to hear. "They mean _love_ Akako-chan! I've got to get home to see him! What exactly did you say to him?" There was more silence as Akako responded again. "WHAT? You said I was on a date with someone? That's really mean!" Aoko grabbed her phone back and raced off as fast as she could go.

'Well, at least she won't think I like some other girl now,' Kaito thought. His phone buzzed as Aoko responded.

" _Kaito, I'm so sorry! Akako-chan took my phone and said something really mean! Go back to my house and stay there! I'll be there in thirty minutes, so use the key under the mat to go in and wait! Please, PLEASE don't leave!_ "

'Is she serious?' Kaito thought. He'd said the red rose thing as a joke, but she'd reacted much more strongly than he'd anticipated. He wasn't getting out of it now, and he'd never hear the end of it if he bailed out. Akako would probably turn him into a toad. 'Well, maybe it won't be that bad,' he thought, calling over a taxi.

He made two stops during the taxi ride. First they stopped briefly at a flower shop so he could get the roses. Both the clerk and the driver looked at him oddly during this since he was still dressed like a girl and hadn't had time to change. The second and final stop was at his house, which was right near Aoko's. After paying the driver, he figured he had about five minutes before Aoko arrived. He raced into his house, got some nice clothes, changed into them, and raced over to Aoko's house next door.

'Made it!' he thought, plopping down on the couch and turning on the TV. After he calmed down, he went into the kitchen and got a bag of chips.

He didn't have to wait long. He'd barely gotten through a quarter of the bag before he heard the door opening. He quickly shut off the TV so she wouldn't know he was there. Kaito had hidden his shoes in the shoe cupboard earlier, too, so he heard some hesitant footsteps as she moved through the house.

"Kaito, are you here?" Aoko asked hesitantly, sounding worried. "I swear, if you pull some stupid magic trick on me, I'm kicking you out!"

That was what Kaito was planning, but that threat wasn't enough to sway him. He used some fishing line to tie the roses above the door, and stood off to the side with the other end.

"Kaito?" Aoko asked again as she entered the room. Kaito let some of the line loose, making the roses drop in front of her face so they were at eye level. Aoko shrieked in surprise, covering her mouth. "Kaito, get out here!" she called, grabbing for the roses. As she did so, Kaito cut the line so they fell into her hands.

"What's all the noise?" Kaito asked, walking out from where he'd been hiding with what he hoped was an innocent look. "They're just flowers."

Aoko stared at him for a minute before saying, "Oh, your stupid trick just surprised me is all!" she replied, playing it off.

"Want some chips?" Kaito asked, making a bowl of them appear.

"Uh, sure," said Aoko, her face nearly the same color as the flowers. Kaito, of course, knew exactly what red roses stood for, but he didn't want to give her any ideas.

The two of them sat down and Kaito turned on the TV. "So, have you never gotten flowers before, Aoko?" he asked innocently. "I wanted to apologize for being so distant earlier, and the florist said those would be the best for comforting you. Are they OK?"

Aoko was quiet for a moment before saying, "Yeah, they're OK Kaito. Thank you." Then she did something very unlike herself by hugging him tightly.

'Oi oi; what's up with her?' Kaito thought. 'She's acting really weird all of a sudden. And all this clinginess is nice and all, but a little creepy. And besides, I'm not exactly ready to drop my feelings like this, not with Pandora still out there.' To redirect the conversation, he leaned back and asked, "Hey Aoko, what's today's color?"

Aoko started, letting go of him. "Today's color? Don't tell me you…"

"Oh, it's light blue!" Kaito exclaimed, lifting a finger to reveal a small spycam attached to the end, connected to his phone. The finger had been under the edge of her skirt, allowing him to see the color.

"Kaito…you…" Aoko said, her face going red from anger as her hands shook. Then she tossed the bowl of chips at him before she went completely berserk.

'Good, she's back to normal,' Kaito thought, dodging a chair. 'I wonder what made her act weird to begin with?'

XXX

Jirokichi Suzuki was at his home reading the newspaper angrily. He had just returned from a trip to China and what did he find? An article about Kid failing to get something called the Yellow Rose! What about _his_ trip in the solar powered airplane?

He shouted into the phone for his assistants and soon three of them arrived. "What is this?" he demanded, showing them the article. "I go pilot a new experimental solar powered aircraft across from Japan to China and what do I find in the papers? A small article about it on page five!"

"Uh, sir, I…"

"Be silent! To compensate for this atrocity, we will have to step up our game! Now, according to this research, there are three jeweled roses: Yellow, Red, and Blue. What I'm going to do is get the final two roses as bait for Kid so I can both get on the front page again and get revenge on him for stealing it! Now, locate the two at once!" Satisfied, he sat down and shooed them out.

With that done, he took some paperwork and began working, as being a bigshot at such a big company entailed. He worked for about three hours until his assistants filed back in. "So, where are they?" he asked excitedly.

"The Blue Rose is in a museum in Hong Kong, so it should be easy enough to appropriate," one began.

"But the problem is the Red Rose. You'll never believe who has it."

"Try me," said Jirokichi, smirking. "I like a challenge."

"The Smithsonian," the assistant responded.

"Well of course they would!" said Jirokichi, now smiling broadly. "Well, I do enjoy a challenge, and that's exactly what this is going to be! Ha ha ha ha!"

"But sir, how do you plan on getting the Red Rose?"

"I have an idea," he said, smiling. "Now, you three work on getting the Blue Rose here, and pay them any loaning fees they ask. I'll work on the Smithsonian."

"Yes sir!" they said, hastily clearing out.

'Now, let's get to work,' he said, cracking his knuckles.

* * *

Man Kaito can be so _dense_ sometimes. But then again, Conan's no better. Oh well. :P

Next chapter is the remainder of the heist setup along with its beginning. I'm trying to make it unique this time rather than the usual 'disguise as someone, take jewel, escape' routine. As usual, be sure to leave a favorite, subscribe, and review if you're enjoying the story!


	7. Ridiculous Trap

And so here we have some more funny moments and the setup for the heist. Minami is so clueless about herself, it seems. :P

* * *

Chapter Seven

"Ran! Ran! Did you hear?" a voice called.

"Leave me alone," Ran muttered, trying to drown out the noise. Who would want to talk to her that early anyways?

The door to her room burst open and the light flicked on. "Ran, get up!" Sonoko shouted excitedly, running up and jerking the pillow away.

"What is it?" Ran asked drowsily, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"Uncle Jirokichi just sent out another notice for Kid-sama!" Sonoko announced, shoving a paper in her face. On the floor, Minami was just waking up, too.

Ran looked at the paper, which had a Kid challenge laid over two pages, as per the usual. "So he's using the other two roses as bait?" Ran remarked, reading over the challenge. Minami was now looking over her shoulder.

"Right, right!" said Sonoko enthusiastically. "There were two more jewel-encrusted glass Roses, each one with its own magic power when touched by two people! The Blue Rose is peace while the Red Rose is hate!"

"Red is hate? I thought Red would've been love!"

"Yeah, that's what I don't really understand. Why was the Yellow one associated with love?" Sonoko took on a look of deep thought before giving up. "But anyways, Kid-sama will probably respond by the end of the day, so we can look forward to seeing him again, can't we?"

"Uh, sure," said Ran as Sonoko left to wait outside. She felt a little apprehensive about there being another Kid heist so soon after the last one, but maybe that was because she was still a little drowsy. Or maybe it was because they still had a ton of cat food to get rid of. Minami had changed into a clean shirt and was attempting to brush her hair, but was having little success. "Here, let me do that Minami-chan," said Ran, picking the little girl up and putting her on her lap.

Taking the hairbrush, Ran went to work. "So, are you excited about Kid?" Ran asked, trying to make conversation.

"Sure, if it means I can catch him," said Minami, yawning widely. She put her hands on either side of her face for a moment before putting them back down. She did that every morning, and it still puzzled Ran as to why. It wasn't like the little girl needed glasses or anything. Maybe she'd picked it up from Conan.

"Are you sure it's not for another reason?" Ran teased jokingly.

"Yes, I'm sure!" Minami said loudly in a bit of a rude tone. Before Ran could react or apologize, the little girl hopped down and left the room.

"What was that about?" Ran asked herself in surprise. She quickly dressed and brushed her hair, but by the time she got out, Minami had already left for school. 'Seriously, what was that about?' Ran thought as she heated up some food for herself and Sonoko. 'It was almost defensive. But why would mentioning Kid make Minami-chan defensive?'

XXX

Kaito walked into his classroom to a loud amount of cheering. Confetti flew everywhere and a banner reading 'Congratulations!' was unfurled. "What's the occasion?" Kaito asked in surprise.

"You and Aoko-chan finally got together!" a guy said, clapping Kaito on the shoulder.

"Idiots; it's not like that!" he protested at once. Instantly the cheery mood died.

"But Akako-sama said…"

"Well, I guess you heard wrong, didn't you?" he said, glaring at the girl, who was staring at him from her desk. He pushed through the crowd and confronted her at once. "You started this?" he asked, annoyed.

"You _did_ give her flowers," she replied. "Did you know that in the language of flowers, red roses means deep romantic love?"

"Oh, the whole rose thing in the text was a joke," Kaito replied.

"Was it now?" she asked, absentmindedly twirling a pencil in her right hand. "Anyways, enough about Nakamori-san. My friend Lucifer gave me a message about your heist tomorrow night."

"How many times do I have to tell you I'm not Kid?"

"Then you'll pass on the message, won't you? 'On the night the two roses are reunited, their theft will occur smoothly, but this is only a ruse. Be mindful of your rival."

"That's what you wanted to tell me?" Kaito laughed.

"Look, I don't know what you're planning, but I do know who the rival Lucifer mentioned is. It's that little girl I met the other day, since Hakuba is away. Beware of her more than any other prior enemy."

"I'll, uh, pass that on," said Kaito.

"You do that," said Akako, glancing at the door. Aoko and Keiko had just come in, but had stopped dead upon seeing what was going on. Aoko glanced at Kaito and her face went bright red. "Your second greatest enemy will be that girl."

"Your friend told you that, too?"

"No, that's just me guessing."

'Figures,' thought Kaito, taking a seat. He took out a sheet of paper to draft a response to the big newspaper ad.

XXX

The following day was the announced heist day. Nobody was really sure how Jirokichi had gotten ahold of both the other Roses in less than two days, but nobody really cared as long as Kid showed up.

"So, are you the Kid Killer's sister?" Jirokichi asked Minami as their group walked in.

'No, I'm him,' Minami thought, nodding.

"Well, let's hope you're as good as your brother!" he said, clapping Minami on the shoulder and steering her into the room. "Now, let me show off my security this time!"

The two roses were behind a rope in the back of the room with the pedestal right next to the wall. There were guards on either end of the display. The roses were just sitting out in the open, not in a glass case or anything, although the other exhibits in the room hadn't been touched this time. Most of them were in glass cases, though. "Hey, where's the security?" Kogoro asked in a bored tone.

"Oh, with this setup, the guards will be more than enough," Jirokichi bragged. "First, in the minutes before Kid arrives, the guards will be equipped with gas masks and the room will be emptied apart from us and the police. Then the roses will be encased by a laser grid." He pushed a button on a remote and a grid appeared around them. "The lasers are powered by the heartbeats of the guards, so unless Kid kills them we shouldn't have to worry about the power going out."

'That's…actually pretty clever,' Minami thought. Jirokichi hit the button again to make the lasers disappear. Now that she looked more closely, she could see wires poking out from the edge of the pedestal and going up the guards' arms. "What if Kid just cuts the wires connecting the guys to the platform?" she asked.

Jirokichi laughed again. "Should Kid cut the power to the building and remove those wires, there is a backup battery inside the platform that will kick in. It'll last for up to three hours powering those lasers."

"Wow!" Ran and Sonoko exclaimed, mouths open in surprise. It was certainly the most elaborate trap he'd ever come up with that wasn't simply a giant box.

"Oh, and if Kid does grab the Roses, the doors and windows will automatically seal themselves magnetically. Kid's not getting away this time!" Jirokichi bragged again, continuing to laugh.

'Him and his boxes,' Minami thought. 'Anyways, I need to see what all tricks Kid has planted this time. If he takes the Roses, the doors will seal. It would be too difficult to cut off the power to all of the sources, so he must be planning to use some social engineering or trickery to get them. Being him, that won't really be a problem.'

Minami lifted up a corner of the cloth that was draping the table the roses were on and saw the battery pack Jirokichi had described. It was in a box of bulletproof glass that had titanium reinforcement. 'Yeah, he's not breaking into that,' she thought.

"Where are you going, Minami-chan?" Ran asked as Minami disappeared into the crowd.

'Now, where are you Kid?' she thought.

XXX

Kid was currently in the security room looking over all the traps. 'Jeez, he really pulled out all the stops today, didn't he?' he thought, feeling giddy. He absolutely loved a challenge, and tonight would probably prove to be the biggest one yet.

"So, is it OK?" a cop asked. Kid was currently disguised as a repairman and was busy working on the lighting.

"Yeah, it looks fine," he said, finishing up and wiping his hands. "There aren't any gimmicks or special things added to the system. You can check if you'd like."

The cop did decide to check, so Kid quickly sprayed some knockout gas when he tried to look. "I suppose I'm you tonight," he said, ruffling through the cop's pockets and getting his ID. After stowing the cop in a closet, he donned his new disguise and joined the rest of the museum.

"So, is there anybody unexpected?" he asked himself quietly, entering the room and glancing it over. There were the usual suspects, including Nakamori, old man Suzuki and his niece, and Detective Mouri and his family. 'Come back for round two, Sakura-chan?' he thought, watching the little girl.

"Hey you!" Nakamori shouted, addressing Kid. Kid froze, afraid he'd seen through his disguise. "What are you doing in here? You're supposed to be outside on patrol!"

"Yes, sir!" said Kid, saluting him before heading for the door. When he was clear of the room, he stopped off in a broom closet to change into a visitor. 'And now we wait,' he thought, reentering the room. It wasn't long now until the heist.

* * *

Next chapter is when Kid steals the Roses and Minami has to try to track him down. But will she be able to actually do anything with Kid around?


	8. How to Beat a Cool System with Cardboard

So this week has been exam week for me, which is why updates have been so sporadic. But you probably figured that, right? My last exam is at 10:30 on Tuesday local time, so expect Ch. 9 sometime after that.

This chapter features the majority of the heist, where Kid manages to steal the Roses with a little trickery.

* * *

Chapter Eight

'Come on, Kid,' Minami thought as the time until the theft got smaller and smaller. 'How are you going to pull it off?' She gripped the keychain in her pocket with a grip of steel.

Like the previous heist, as soon as the time arrived the power went out. The only source of light through the gloom was the laser grid.

"Don't worry!" Jirokichi shouted. "He can't get through the lasers!" Then the lights came back on. Apparently Kid _had_ gotten through the lasers, since the Roses were gone.

"WHAT?" Nakamori shouted, a look of utter shock on his face. The two guards flanking the display had been knocked out and were sleeping peacefully while the pedestal itself displayed nothing. Their gas masks lay broken on the floor.

"Seal the room and shut down those lasers!" Jirokichi shouted into a radio. Instantly, all the doors and windows closed, sealing everybody inside.

When the lasers shut down, Nakamori and a pair of cops searched the pedestal for any sort of tricks. "Wait a minute, what is THIS?" Nakamori said, picking up a piece of cardboard painted the same color as the back wall. It had been leaning backwards across the table, obscuring the roses from view from the front. Beneath the cardboard, the roses had vanished.

'What was the cardboard for?' Minami thought. 'It's so low tech compared to some of his tricks. And how did he bypass the lasers?'

Nakamori inspected the pedestal for a few more minutes before standing up and announcing, "Everybody in here needs to be searched thoroughly for the missing roses. Please line up against the wall for searching."

With fifty people in the room, that idea would take forever to properly check, so Minami decided to use the time to try to figure out how Kid pulled off his trick. Since she was a kid and didn't have to be checked, she was free to do whatever she wanted.

'If Kid is willing to sit through a body check, that means he doesn't have the roses on him, so that means they're hidden somewhere in this room,' Minami thought. She stood on her tiptoes to get a good look at the table. She waved her hand over the top of it, but found no remnants of a trick. Then she looked at the discarded cardboard, where she noticed something odd. 'Hold on, what are these holes in the corners?' she thought. They were absolutely tiny holes, only large enough for something like fishing line to pass through.

Minami stared straight up, where there was a light fixture above the area in front of the pedestal. On the ceiling, within the laser grid and hidden from view from the ground by the light fixture, was some kind of mechanism with a motor. She couldn't tell what it was from her position on the ground, but she could guess. 'So Kid lowered the cardboard over the roses in the dark to make people think from a distance they were stolen. When the lasers went down and the cops were busy with the cardboard, Kid joined them and stole the Roses right from under their noses. That means he's dressed as a cop, but which one?'

The problem was, the cops were all dressed in hats or helmets, so Minami didn't remember which ones had joined Nakamori. The two had joined the line of everyone else while Jirokichi and Nakamori checked all the men in the line, while Ran and Sonoko checked the women. Of course, these four had checked each other beforehand. Minami started checking the other exhibits, but all the glass cases were locked tight. 'So if Kid doesn't have them, and they aren't locked in the cases, where could they be?' Minami thought, glancing around.

XXX

Kid had already been searched, and now he was staring at Minami as she tried to put the pieces together. They hadn't checked IDs, so all he'd had to do was take off his mask temporarily when Nakamori pulled faces. He'd hidden the two roses in a secret location, which Minami apparently hadn't tracked down yet. 'Come on, make your cousin proud,' he thought, following her movements. Kid was always looking for a challenge, and he was hoping Minami wouldn't disappoint.

Then he noticed Minami kept gripping something in her pocket tightly. 'Now what are you holding so tightly?' he thought. Maybe it was something she normally wore as an adult, or maybe it was just her phone. It could've been nothing. But Kid, being bored as he waited for everyone to be searched so they'd open the doors and allow him to escape, was intrigued despite his better judgement.

As Minami checked the nearest case again, which had some kind of pottery in it, Kid spoke up. "Little girl, what are you doing looking through everything? You've already checked everything twice."

"Oh, I'm looking for Kid's stuff!" she said, taking on a bashful look and scuffing her shoes. It was a pretty good 'innocent little girl' routine, and Kid might have been fooled if he hadn't known the truth.

"Well, good luck with that," he said, smiling. "Did you bring any anti-Kid gear to catch him with?"

"No, nothing like that. Well unless you count this," she said, tapping her head with a finger.

"Your mind? So you're pretty smart?"

"Kind of. That's why I know I can catch Kid!"

'I doubt that, but feel free to try,' Kid thought. "So have you tracked down where Kid went yet?"

"Yeah, he's one of the cops in here. He's waiting for Nakamori-keibu to think he already left and open the doors. He hid the two Roses somewhere in here to get through the body search, so he'll pick them up once everyone runs out to look for him."

"So that's why you're looking through all the hiding places in the room!" Kid exclaimed. Well, she hadn't looked through _all_ the hiding places, since she hadn't found where he'd hidden the Roses. She probably would at some point, but not without some kind of prompt. It was one of the disadvantages of her being so short.

Kogoro, who had just been searched, suddenly appeared. "Hey little girl! Stick close to me and don't wander off!"

"Yes, sir," said Minami dully.

"The problem with a sealed room is that it's really hot in here," Kogoro complained, tugging at his collar in exasperation. Minami suddenly got a look of thoughtfulness on her face.

'Don't tell me she figured it out?' Kid thought in horror. If she recovered the roses before the doors opened, he'd never be able to check them for Pandora.

XXX

Minami approached Ran, who was busy searching an officer, and said, "Ran-onee, could I ask a favor?"

"She called you 'Ran-onee!" Sonoko exclaimed. "How cute!"

'Ugh,' Minami thought, feeling very embarrassed.

"I'm kind of busy right now, Minami-chan," Ran said apologetically. "What is it you need?"

"I think Kid stashed the Roses somewhere high up, so I need a boost to go check."

"I can help you with that," said the young cop from before. He'd already been checked, so the possibility of him being Kid was slim, but still present since this _was_ Kid they were talking about.

"Oh, would you?" Ran asked. But Sonoko was suspicious.

"And just who do you think you are?" she asked, staring at him. "Why are you being so helpful?"

"Just thought I'd be nice," he shrugged. "I want Kid caught, too, you know." Turning to Minami, he asked, "Now where do you want to look?"

"Those vents up there," she replied, pointing at the small air vents in the wall nearby the pedestal. They were too small for an adult to fit inside, but large enough to hide two jeweled roses.

"Let's get a chair, then," he told her, walking with her across the room and getting a chair. Sonoko was still staring at him, so Ran had to bring her attention back to searching. The cop stood on the chair, unscrewed the vent cover, and peered inside. The cover swung up and nearly knocked his hat off, but he quickly straightened it. "It doesn't look like there's anything in here, little girl," he announced. "Want to see?"

Minami was very surprised she'd been wrong, but she nodded and allowed the cop to pick her up so she could check for herself. She poked her head into the vent opening and, sure enough, there weren't any roses, just a bunch of cold air blowing in her face. "Next vent, please," she said, pointing to a vent across the room.

"Okay, little lady," said the cop. They checked the remainder of the vents, but there were no roses in any of them, either.

'Great, now what?' Minami thought irritably as the cop put her back down and returned to the other cops.

By now, Nakamori had finished checking everybody. "Okay, since nobody has the roses, I can only guess that Kid already left. Open the doors so we can go get him!" He addressed this last part at Jirokichi, who hastily complied by yelling into his radio. The doors opened and all the cops left.

Eventually, Kogoro, Ran, Sonoko, and Minami were the only ones left in the room. "At least they got the air working again," said Kogoro, breathing a sigh of relief. "That's the only good thing that happened tonight."

"When did the air come back on?" Minami asked, staring him down.

"Right when you and that cop started checking the vents. You must've unblocked one of them because the room started cooling off almost instantly."

The full weight of that statement hit Minami like a train. 'Is he serious? Because if he is, then…I've made a horrible mistake!' Without waiting for the others, Minami bolted out of the room, looking for the cop that had helped her look in the vents. If he'd been Kid, he could've retrieved the Roses from right under her nose without her realizing it. Actually, why _did_ she let that guy look first? Normally she would've insisted on looking.

* * *

And now Minami's in BIG trouble. She let Kid troll her the whole time and she never even noticed. Can she still catch him? Next chapter features the end of the heist and a surprise appearance of a character you won't be expecting.


	9. Phone Call

Exams are finally over, so I've got plenty of free time again. And then someone suggested I look at the visual novel _Katawa Shoujo_ , which took a week of my time to get done. I kind of needed a pick-me-up after that horrendous ecology exam. :P

This chapter features a new character appearing via phone as well as Kid trying to be a gentleman.

* * *

Chapter Nine

Minami burst into the security room, looking for Kid. She'd been running around the building for five minutes already, looking for potential Kid hiding places. She opened the cabinet behind the door and found the cop from earlier sleeping inside. 'I was right; he _was_ Kid. But why didn't I realize it sooner?'

Kid himself wasn't around, so Minami did some quick thinking as to how he would escape. 'His disguise hasn't been blown yet, so he could technically walk out the front door. But the cops need to stay on duty, and Kid wouldn't want to stick around. So where would he go?' She eyed the cabinet again, which had a broom in it, and realized the explanation. 'He'll leave as a janitor!' she realized. 'The janitor will have trash bags he can hide the roses in, so nobody will be suspicious!'

After all that reasoning, she ran out of the room and through the building, looking for a janitor. She'd been pretty sloppy that evening, but now that she knew what Kid was up to, she wasn't about to just let him leave. She gripped the keychain in her pocket again, which seemed to give her extra courage.

Suddenly her phone rang, which nearly scared the daylights out of her. It was her Minami phone, so she checked the Caller ID to find it was Heiji calling her. 'What's he want?' she thought, answering. Of all the times somebody could call.

"Yo Sakura-chan!" Heiji greeted her loudly. "I just thought I'd check in to see how you was doin'! I saw you got on the news after you got shot, and now I'm seeing that Kid managed to get away! Are you doing OK?"

"Yeah, I'm fine Hattori-kun," she responded. "I didn't actually get shot, and I'm still hunting for Kid right now. I'm kind of busy, so could you call back later?"

"Uh, sure I guess. But it sure is pretty funny you let Kid get away! Kudo'll have a fit when he finds out!"

That really irked Minami, but she kept her cool. "Don't you tell him a word of this. I'm looking for Kid right now, and I think he's disguised as a janitor. Hopefully I can find him before he leaves."

"Well, if you want, I can keep an eye on the front entrance for you," Heiji offered. "It's being shown live on TV right now, so if a janitor leaves I'll let you know. But he probably won't leave through the front, will he?"

Minami was busy using her Shinichi phone to check the building's layout. "No, he'll probably go out the back through the loading dock," she said. "So, I'll call you back a little later, OK Hattori…-kun?" She was still having problems calling him that.

"Sure, and tell Kudo to pick up his phone more often! I know he's overseas but he never picks up anymore, and I try to call when I know he's awake."

"Yeah, I'll tell him." She hung up and continued on her way towards the back.

XXX

Kid was busy tossing garbage bags into the dumpster. He'd put the bag containing the two roses to the side to check later. He'd lucked out when Minami had asked him to check the vents first, since he'd been able to hide the roses under his hat until he changed disguises.

With the task of dumping trash done, he took the two roses out of the bag and held them up the moonlight, one at a time. Neither held Pandora. "Admiring your collection?" a young voice asked. Kid spun around and saw Minami standing in the doorway leading inside, breathing heavily and leaning on the door frame.

"What's wrong with that?" Kid asked, realizing the gig was up and just going with the flow. "I'm a thief you know."

"Yes, but not an art critic."

There was silence for a moment before Kid said, "You know, you were really off your game tonight. You OK?"

"Yeah, I'm fine!" Minami shot back, a little more forcefully than he expected. It was almost defensive. In response, Kid changed into his normal costume with a puff of smoke.

"Maybe your cousin is just that much better than you, but I doubt that. So what's the problem?"

"Why do you even care? I'm the detective and you're the thief! It's my job to nab you!"

"Your…job? We barely know each other Sakura-chan. You can't exactly claim that. And besides, I've been around girls before, and I know how they act. You are acting very weird right now. If it's about the heist, then," he waved his hand and the two roses disappeared in a puff of smoke before reappearing on the ground between them, "it seems as though you've won."

He didn't need the roses anyway, but the little girl was _still_ acting odd. She didn't even try to pick them up. She shuffled her feet for a moment, hands in her pockets, before eventually walking forwards to the roses. As her hands left her pockets, though, there was a metallic clinking sound as something fell onto the ground. It looked like a small keychain, but Minami snatched it up and put it away before Kid got a good look at it. Then she picked up the two roses.

"Kid, I congratulate you tonight. Now…please leave." Her voice sounded kind of shaky, which made Kid even more concerned. You knew he was concerned when he was bothering to stick around in full costume instead of going home for the night. It was something he rarely did. Akako's warning flew into his mind, but he didn't think it really applied in this situation.

Kid reached into his jacket for his grapple gun, but was hesitant to leave. He liked to make daring escapes in situations like these, or at least an easy escape for doing one of his rivals a favor. But not like this. The little girl was staring at the ground, holding the roses tightly to her chest. "Sakura-chan, if there's something wrong, you need to talk to someone. Don't let it consume you and take over your life."

There was silence for a moment before Minami said, "I thought I told you to LEAVE." She certainly didn't sound very friendly now. In fact she was actually shaking a bit. Seeing he wouldn't be able to do anything to help, Kid took that as he cue to leave.

'That girl's really weird,' he thought, looking over the edge of the roof at Minami, who hadn't moved. He admitted he didn't really know her, but even he could tell that she was acting oddly. 'Well, if there's something wrong, her friends will notice too,' he decided eventually, opening his glider to go home.

XXX

Three days after the heist, Minami decided to call Heiji again once all the furor had died down a little. She probably would've called him earlier, but she was upset with herself for her irrational behavior during the heist. She'd completely failed to realize that the nice cop talking to her was actually Kid in disguise and she'd let him make off with the roses right under her nose. To top that, she'd nearly let him get away with the roses. And then, once she'd caught up with him, she'd completely frozen up. Needless to say, she'd let her emotions get the better of her and now she was a little depressed. She was hoping Heiji could cheer her up, but she decided to call him as Shinichi to avoid any awkwardness. Well, technically it was Conan's voice, but it was the same concept. Heiji had tried calling her again since then, but she hadn't answered out of embarrassment.

"Yo Kudo!" Heiji said at once when he picked up.

"Hattori," Minami-as-Conan replied.

"I've been trying to call ya but your phone's been off! You been doin' OK over in America?"

"Yeah, I guess. I've been living with Mom and Dad here in Los Angeles while I've been looking into the Organization."

"Haven't they been pretty active in Tokyo, though? Why'd you go away?"

"Oh I, uh, learned they had some regional headquarters here. Plus, Sakura's holding down the fort in Tokyo."

"Yeah, I met her. She reminds me of you a lot, Kudo. You know, with similar habits and how she talks. And she has a thing for your neechan like you!"

"Oh be quiet!" Minami snapped, feeling her cheeks flushing. She could hear Heiji laughing on the other end.

"Speaking of Sakura-chan, though, didn't she have a run-in with that Organization, too? So why did I see her face in the paper saying she got shot?"

'Uh-oh, not good!' Minami thought. If Heiji blew her disguise, she'd never hear the end of it. "Is that what she told you?" she said eventually, trying to redirect the conversation.

"That's what _you_ told me," said Heiji, sounding confused. "You said she had a run-in with them and got hit with that shrinking poison."

Minami's lie was coming apart, so she had to do some quick damage control. "Well, I said that because she asked me to. What really happened was pretty embarrassing for her. I did get her to keep an eye on Tokyo, but she's never encountered the Organization."

"Then how'd she do that shrink trick?"

"Well, I don't know if I should say. She'd probably kill me if I told you."

"OK, now I'm _really_ curious. What happened?"

Minami sighed, thinking quickly, before saying, "Well, when I was planning to move, I asked Sakura to come to Tokyo and live in my house to keep an eye on things. When I took her to Agasa-hakase's house to introduce her to both him and Haibara, she came down with a headache because some experiment Hakase was doing was letting out some bad fumes, so she took some medicine from an aspirin bottle. Unfortunately, Haibara was reusing the bottle for APTX-4869, so she shrank, too."

"Wow, that _is_ pretty embarrassing," said Heiji. "Remind me to never take any medicine from the old man's house."

'Good, he bought it,' Minami thought. Haibara wasn't one to keep the poison just lying around, but luckily Heiji didn't know that. She also knew he wouldn't care enough to investigate.

"So, your cousin took your place and your legacy, and she's being ignored by that Organization of yours. I dunno if she should be happy or annoyed. I know I'd be annoyed."

"You feel my pain, Hattori," said Minami, and they both laughed.

"Heiji!" a voice called from Heiji's end of the phone, making Heiji gasp in surprise. The voice was so loud Minami could hear every word despite the owner being nowhere near the receiver. "What are you doing, Heiji? We're going to be late!"

"Yeah, I'll be down in a minute!"Heiji called. "So anyways, Kudo, I've gotta go. I promised to take Kazuha to dinner and I'd rather not make her mad."

"Oh, so you finally confessed?"

"Yeah, a little while ago. It turns out she felt the same way! Who would've thought it, huh?"

'The only one who never saw that was YOU!' Minami thought.

"Anyways, Kudo, you'd better say something if you don't want to be second-best! Talk to ya later!" With that, he hung up.

'You say that, but I can't say a thing while I'm looking like this,' Minami thought. An image of Ran appeared in her mind, but it seemed to be weaker than normal. 'What is this feeling? It's like my feelings for Ran are…"

"Minami-chan!" Ran shouted, banging on the door and breaking her out of her thoughts. "You've been in the bathroom for ten minutes! Are you feeling OK?"

"Oh, I'm fine!" she replied cutely, stepping out of the bathroom. Ran still looked worried, but she didn't pry.

* * *

So that was sort of a follow-up on Part Two, which had Heiji and Kazuha come to Tokyo for the entirety of the story. Part Four chronologically takes place between where the manga currently ends and where the the story will eventually end in however many more years that'll take. Part Five will essentially take the place of the canon ending, just with a few differences. The confession is the same as what will eventually (hopefully) happen at some point.

Next chapter, Haibara gives Minami some advice for dealing with Kid, which makes Minami decide on a plan of action. There won't be any more heists, unfortunately, but there's still a bit left until the end.


	10. Plan of Action

With all the heists over with, Minami has to resolve her feelings before they get too distracting. The problem is whether she'll actually recognize she _has_ feelings or not.

* * *

Chapter Ten

Kaito was walking to school alone, reading the news on his phone. The headline read Kid Foiled by Elementary Girl! Is There Another Kid Killer? The article had a picture of Minami and Jirokichi holding the two roses triumphantly. Jirokichi was grinning like mad, as per usual, but Minami looked a little more subdued. Sure she was smiling, but the smile seemed a little forced to Kaito, especially since she'd been acting so weird that night. He was used to how Conan and Hakuba usually acted, so the fact the girl wasn't acting like them, especially since she was supposedly just as smart, really made him worry a bit.

When Kaito entered the school, Aoko was busy talking with Keiko by the shoe lockers. When Aoko caught sight of him, though, she turned bright red and walked off as fast as she could go, with only one of her slippers on. "Aoko-chan, wait!" Keiko shouted, grabbing the other slipper and racing after her.

"What's with her?" Kaito wondered aloud.

"Don't you know?" Akako said, appearing from nowhere by his shoulder. "It's your fault, you know."

"How is it my fault?" Kaito asked cluelessly, changing his shoes.

Akako stared at him. "You really don't know, do you? Well, until you figure it out, I won't give you any hints!" With that, she turned around and walked away, her hair blowing behind her. She attracted the attention of every boy she passed as she went, but Kaito just rolled his eyes in annoyance.

Still pondering what Akako was talking about, Kaito went to the classroom and sat down in his seat. Aoko glanced at him hurriedly before turning her attention back to her friends. 'What's up with her?' Kaito thought. He thought back, but all he'd done was give her flowers as a joke. Sure, they could be taken as something more, but he hadn't meant it that way. But she'd reacted so strongly out on the sidewalk. Did she really take it like that? Kaito glanced at Aoko again, who wasn't paying him any attention now. 'Well, even if she did react so strongly because she likes me, I can't do anything until I destroy Pandora,' he thought. 'But I can't stand her looking so depressed or whatever she's looking like right now.'

But Kaito was Kaito, so he wasn't about to back down from a challenge. Taking a piece of paper, he scribbled a note on it, folded it up, and took a walk around the classroom. He was heading towards the back corner, where he'd spotted a marble on the ground when he'd walked in, so it was a good excuse to walk by Aoko and drop the note in her bag.

When Kaito reached the marble, he picked it up and held it up to the light. 'Wow, looking for Pandora's really gotten me in the habit of holding everything up to the light,' he thought, catching himself. He pocketed the marble and headed back to his seat. Aoko wouldn't find the note until later, so everything was OK for now.

XXX

"So, it looks like you won again," Haibara said, smirking.

"Yeah, yeah," said Minami. It was lunchtime, and they were using the time to chat about the heist. Minami was still loathing herself for acting oddly during it, and she could tell Haibara had picked up on it.

"But something happened. Let me guess: you confessed and got rejected."

"What? No! Why would I do that?"

Haibara just stared at her. "Wow, you're clueless. Well, this is something you've got to take care of yourself, but I'll give you a hint. Kudo-kun, you have a very obvious crush on Kid."

"Don't even joke about that, Haibara," said Minami dangerously.

"I wasn't joking," she responded, no longer sounding friendly. "Just because you're as blind as a bat when it comes to these things doesn't mean that I'm imagining things. You have a crush on Kid, so the sooner you realize that, the sooner you can do something about it. Then you need to resolve your feelings so they don't distract you. It's like how you loved Ran-san but could still be around her without acting like a fool. That's the dynamic you need to reach."

Minami looked at her in surprise. "Why are you helping so much? I didn't think you cared about this type of thing."

Haibara jumped, looked away, and said, "Take my advice or leave it, Kudo-kun; I don't really care either way. Just do something about it, OK?" With that, she went back to her food, her face a slight pinkish tinge.

'Has she had something like this happen to her?' Minami thought. 'Well, either way she might actually be right. And if she is, I need to settle this once and for all.' The problem with that was that the only way she'd be able to do that was if she could have a chat with Kid off-heist. And she didn't have any idea who or where Kid was.

'Wait, I met Kid off-heist recently!' Minami thought, remembering the whole cat food thing. 'But why was he in Beika? He asked about the two girls that were asking about me, so apparently he knows them from somewhere. But they didn't leave any contact information with Occhan, so how am I supposed to track them down? All I know is that they're in high school and a friend of theirs was looking into me. Their friend might be Kid's civilian persona, so he's the one I need to find. But I don't have time to check all the high schools in the area with dark blue sailor uniforms.'

"Hey Haibara," Minami asked hesitantly.

"What?"

"How many high schools in the area have dark blue sailor uniforms for girls?"

"Well there's Beika, Haido Girls, Ekoda, the list goes on. I'm not really that familiar with high schools."

'That's a start at least,' Minami thought. 'I'll check those three later and then go from there.'

"What about high schools?" Ayumi asked suddenly. Both girls started in surprise; they hadn't realized Ayumi was listening in.

"Oh I wanted to talk to that girl again that we met the other day," said Minami. "You know, the one we returned the picture to?"

"Yeah, I remember! The one who gave you her cell number right before Kid gave us that cat food! So, what did you want to talk to her about?"

Minami started again. She'd totally forgotten she had the girl's number with her. That would make tracking Kid down a whole lot easier. "Oh, I just wanted to tell her Sakura-oneesan might be returning soon, so the two of them can talk about whatever it is she wanted to talk about."

"Oh, OK," said Ayumi, turning away.

Haibara looked at Minami and said, "You're planning something. What is it? And why do I think it involves me?"

"All I'm going to do is use one of those antidotes to turn into Sakura and visit that girl. I think she knows Kid, even if she herself doesn't know it. Plus, the Organization won't be looking for me as a girl, so I don't have to worry about being discovered. The antidote will still work, right?"

"All that may be true, but you don't know the first thing about acting like a teenage girl," said Haibara flatly. "You have to keep an eye on your hair, your makeup, your clothes, and your posture if you don't want to raise suspicions. Or you could be like that tomboy girl and not care, but you've made it clear that Sakura isn't a tomboy."

"Well, you'll help me out, won't you Haibara-sensei?" Minami asked, taking on a begging posture.

"Oh, all right," Haibara said eventually, rolling her eyes. "You can probably wear some of your mom's clothes, so bring them by Hakase's house early Sunday and I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you, Haibara," said Minami. "You don't know how much this means to me. I'd rather get all this Kid stuff behind me before it gets out of control." Haibara just stared at her, preferring not to comment.

XXX

The next Sunday morning, Haibara and Minami met at Agasa's house as promised. Minami had snuck into her old house and gotten some clothes without Subaru ever realizing she was there. Now Haibara was staring her down. "You're absolutely sure you want to do this?" she said, holding the pill cupped in one hand.

"Of course I'm sure," said Minami. "I've planned it all out, so all I need to do is call that girl and set up a meeting. I'll do that after I grow up because I don't really know what my voice sounds like and she'll get suspicious if I use the wrong one."

"Then take your clothes into the bathroom and hope this doesn't kill you," said Haibara, handing over the pill.

'What's that supposed to mean?' Minami thought, heading in. Once in the bathroom, she locked the door, put on the oversized clothes, which were just jeans, a T-shirt, and a light jacket, and took the antidote. She'd also taken a bra, but wasn't wearing it. She waited in eager anticipation for about two minutes before the pain started. It was subtle at first, but soon her heart was pounding like crazy. She closed her eyes and resisted the urge to scream as she felt the usual bone-melting sensation.

When the pain finally subsided, Minami, now Sakura, adjusted her clothes, took a deep breath to calm herself, and then left the bathroom. She noted that she was approximately the same height and weight as she would be as Shinichi. "How do I look?" she asked Haibara.

Haibara stared at her for a moment before saying, "You were right, Kid did screw up your bust size when he disguised as you. He went too small."

"That's what you're thinking?" Sakura asked in surprise, looking down at herself self-consciously. Haibara was right; she was about the size of Ran.

"Yeah, but that's not necessarily a bad thing," said Haibara. "Now come over here so I can pretty you up." She was holding a hairbrush and a makeup kit and was pointing at a mirror.

"Just don't make me look ugly to girls, OK?" Sakura said, sitting down in front of the mirror. "While you're doing that, I should probably call that girl and set up a meeting."

Haibara got up on a stool and went to work while Sakura hunted for the paper with the girl's number. "You're wearing a bra, right? I saw you bring one in. It'll help a lot with movement."

"Uh, well, about that…" Sakura began, feeling her face turn hot.

"Let me guess: you don't know how to put it on?" Haibara sighed. "Fine, I'll show you." Putting the brush down, she said, "Now, give me the bra and take off your jacket and your shirt."

Sakura twitched. "Right here? I'm a girl now; won't that be kind of weird?"

"Fine, go put in on in the bathroom," said Haibara, pointing at the door. "Just don't blame me if you can't get it to work."

"I suppose I can try that," said Sakura. "But first I'm calling that girl." Taking her Minami phone, she typed in the number and waited while it rang.

It rang twice before its owner picked up. "Yes, hello?" a tired voice said.

"Ah yes, I'm Kudo Sakura, and I heard from a mutual acquaintance you wanted to ask me something?" she said quickly, hoping she was doing an OK job of impersonating a girl.

There was silence for a moment before the girl, now much more alert, said, "Right, I did want to ask you something. But I don't think I can do it over the phone. Are you in Tokyo right now? Can we meet up?"

"Uh, sure I guess. I'll be free for lunch later."

"OK great! Then can you meet me at that sandwich place in Block 4 of Haido? The new one? I forget its name, but it's really popular."

"Sure, I can do that! Noon, right?"

"Yeah sure! See you then!" With that, the girl hung up.

"Well, I suppose I'd better pretty you up for your date," said Haibara teasingly.

"Oh be quiet; it's not like that!" Sakura protested.

"With a girl that looks like Ran-san? Sure it isn't," she countered.

'That little…' Sakura thought as she excused herself to the bathroom.

* * *

Surprise! Sakura Kudo, appearing for real for the first time (her appearance in Part Three was just Minami in a bodysuit). She has 24 hours to fix the whole Kaito situation. Can she do it? Note that this will take 3-5 chapters to do, so we're not _quite_ not done yet.


	11. Aoko's Test

So now Sakura will have a meeting with Aoko. I wonder how this'll go...

* * *

Chapter Eleven

'Let's see, I think this is the place,' Sakura thought as she approached the sandwich shop. Even without knowing the name, she knew exactly which place the girl had been talking about; Ran and Sonoko had been talking about it constantly for the last week. She'd arrived about five minutes early, so she didn't expect her contact to have arrived yet.

When Sakura got inside, she looked around for the other girl, but she wasn't there. She took a seat in a booth and picked up the menu to order something. "Are you alone today, miss?" the waitress asked.

"Oh, I'm meeting a friend," Sakura told her. "If another girl comes in asking about a 'Sakura-san', could you send her over here?"

"Oh, sure," said the waitress. "Would you like a drink while you wait?"

"Iced coffee for now," Sakura replied.

She didn't wait long. After about two minutes, Aoko walked in the door. Sakura waved, which led to her nervously walking over. Aoko sat down across from her, looking incredibly anxious about something. "So, you're Sakura-san?" she said at last, in almost a whisper. She might've looked like Ran, but she was acting so differently it was actually kind of eerie. Ran was rarely this bashful.

"Oh, yes. And you must be Aoko-san," Sakura replied. There was a lot of awkwardness in the air that neither of them seemed willing to break.

To break the tension, Aoko ordered a sandwich and a drink while Sakura just got a sandwich. Once her drink had arrived, a small tea, Aoko took a sip before saying, "This may sound a bit weird, but could you hear me out?"

"Of course," said Sakura. She had a good idea what was going on, but she wasn't about to force the girl into spilling her guts.

Aoko took a big sigh before she said, "OK then. Well, a little over a week ago, a friend of mine had a picture of you as his phone wallpaper, but he kept brushing me off whenever I asked about it. Then he pulled this stupid prank on me with a bunch of red roses, which was incredibly insulting since I, uh, kind of like him. But since we're childhood friends, he's so dense he can't even see it. So I kind of got worried about whether there was some other girl he was into. He gave me some silly note the other day to try and apologize, but it may just be him being nice. Akako-chan thought that if there was another girl it would be you, so that's why I asked you out here."

"Don't worry, I don't have a boyfriend," said Sakura.

But Aoko shook her head. "That's not what I'm asking. I know Kaito doesn't have a girlfriend, but I'm pretty sure he's into a girl of some kind. Plus, even if you two were going out, I thought you might lie in order to not hurt my feelings. So I devised a test."

That took Sakura off guard. "What do you mean a test?" Before she could respond, the door to the sandwich shop opened and a teenage boy walked in. He looked a LOT like Shinichi, just with a different hairstyle. 'No way, a clone of me and a clone of Ran? What are the odds?' she thought.

"Kaito, over here!" Aoko called, waving at the boy. Sakura, whose seat was facing away from the door, quickly withdrew her head so the guy wouldn't see her.

"What is this about, Aoko?" the boy asked as he approached. "You were awful insistent I meet you for lunch. What's going on?" He still hadn't seen Sakura, who was busy drinking her drink and pretending to not pay attention.

"Oh, I just wanted you to meet a friend of mine!" she said cheerfully, gesturing for him to sit next to her. The boy did, glancing at Sakura but apparently not recognizing her.

'Does he really not recognize me?' Sakura thought in surprise. 'No, he's Kid; he's really good at being overconfident and hiding his thoughts.' To him, she said, "Nice to meet you, Kaito-san."

"Uh, thanks," Kaito replied, offering his hand for her to shake. "So, who are you?"

"Oh, I'm Kudo Sakura, a detective," she said cheerfully. Instantly a look of surprise and/or horror flashed across his face. He quickly let go after the handshake was done and sat back down next to Aoko.

"So what are you two talking about?" Kaito asked Aoko.

"Oh, just girl things," she replied vaguely. "Anyways, I saw you looking at Sakura-chan's picture a while ago, so I thought I'd get you two a meeting."

Sakura looked at Aoko with newfound respect. She'd just laid her heart bare, but now she was trying to pair the two of them up. Or maybe it really was just a test to see how her friend Kaito would react. She was apparently a lot smarter than she'd initially let on. "A meeting? About what?" Kaito asked her rudely.

"Well, you're a magician and she's a detective, so it's like Kaitou Kid and Hakuba-kun meeting up, right? You can talk about that."

'They know Hakuba?' Sakura thought. She'd met the detective before as Conan, but it had been brief each time.

Kaito sighed silently before turning to Sakura and asking, "So you're a detective? Does that mean you're smarter than Aoko over here?" He jabbed a thumb in Aoko's direction, making her instantly angry.

"Are you saying I'm stupid Kaito?" Aoko shouted at once, making Kaito cringe from the noise.

"Not if she's really smart," he teased.

The two continued arguing, and Sakura was struck by just how much they reminded her of how Heiji and Kazuha were always arguing. 'Yeah, these two would be perfect for each other,' she thought. And it would give her the perfect excuse to pair Kid up with his closest friend and get her to quit thinking about him. "So, are you two a couple or something?" she asked, feigning innocence.

The argument quit instantly as the two stared at her. "No, of course not!" the two protested at once, simultaneously with similarly red faces.

"Of course you aren't," said Sakura, now thoroughly enjoying the situation. 'Pairing these two up will be easy,' she thought. Just as she was about to open her mouth again, Kaito was suddenly distracted by the door opening to the shop. The blood drained from his face and he quickly took cover under the table.

"Kaito, are you OK?" Aoko asked, looking at Kaito under the table. Sakura glanced at the door and saw that Ran, Sonoko, and Sera of all people had just walked in.

'Oh this is BAD,' Sakura thought. If Ran saw her, she'd never hear the end of it.

"What's going on, Kaito?" Aoko asked, looking at the trio. "Do you know those people?"

"I look like the long-haired girl's boyfriend, so she always chases me thinking I'm him," Kaito explained. "He's been away from Tokyo for almost a year now and he hardly ever calls her."

'Yep, he's Kid,' Sakura thought. There was no way a normal civilian would know that much about Shinichi and Ran. Plus, she knew perfectly well that Kid could disguise as Shinichi without a disguise, and Kaito looked very like Shinichi. 'And I call her more often than that!'

"Oh, where did your friend go?" the waitress asked, approaching them with two plates of food, the main portion of Sakura and Aoko's lunches. "Does he not want anything?"

"He saw an ex-girlfriend and ran to hide," Aoko said, trying hard not to laugh. "Since he's gone, I'll order for him. How about some mixed fruit juice, a fried salmon sandwich, and a vanilla parfait?"

Sakura had to try very hard not to laugh at that ridiculous order. But then again, the guy deserved it for being so rude the whole time. "Right away, miss," the waitress said, also trying hard not to laugh. "Tell him to call me if he wants the order changed."

"Yeah, make the sandwich chicken or ham or something!" Kaito said, poking his head out from under the table. "Take off the parfait and make the drink a coffee! And make it all to go!" Done with that, he hid back under the table as the waitress went away, smiling into her hand. Sakura glanced back at Ran and her friends, but they were sitting in such a position that they couldn't see into their booth. Unfortunately, that also meant that Sakura and company couldn't get out the door without being spotted.

'I guess we're both stuck in here until they leave,' Sakura thought, glancing down at Kaito. At least neither she or Aoko were wearing a skirt; that would've made his position incredibly awkward. With the waitress gone, Sakura started chowing down on her sandwich, which was just as good as people had claimed.

It was when she was half done that a scream echoed through the restaurant from the kitchen in the back. Sakura, forgetting about staying hidden, immediately jumped up and ran for the back.

XXX

Masumi Sera had jumped up at once when she'd heard the scream and had been the first one on the scene. She'd asked Ran and Sonoko to guard the door leading out so nobody could flee. Now she was examining the body in the kitchen, one of the chefs. A waitress had found him when she'd come in with a new order. The chef had been stabbed in the back while cooking at the stove with a large knife and then stuffed into a closet. The waitress had been disposing of a ridiculous-sounding order slip than had fruit juice, a sandwich, and a parfait on it when she'd found him.

"He died instantly," Sera announced, after clearing everyone away and examining the body. "You, call the police," she said, pointing at another chef. The chef quickly ran to the phone and complied.

"All right, everyone needs to go into the restaurant until the police get here," a new voice said. Sera looked around to see Sakura Kudo of all people examining the body.

"Sakura-chan? What are you doing here?" Sera asked in surprise.

"Oh, I was having lunch with a friend," she replied, checking the body for signs of rigor mortis. "Oh, and I'd appreciate you not telling Ran I'm here; I heard she's really mad at me right now after I lied about going home to Hokkaido."

"Uh, sure, I guess," said Sera, confused.

It took about ten minutes for the police to arrive, led this time by Megure, with Takagi and Sato assisting him. "So let's get this straight," said Megure, looking at a notebook. "The head chef, Tsubayoshi Takeo, was busy cooking lunch for the patrons when somebody stabbed him in the back. Then that someone stuffed him in the closet. At the time, nobody saw what was going on because the corner of the kitchen he was in was blocked from view by a stack of boxes."

The employees all looked around at each other with looks of suspicion. 'So the murderer could be anybody with access to the kitchen,' Sera thought. 'Nobody saw a thing and I'd be willing to bet at least three people here have a strong motive to kill him. Interesting.' She smirked at this last part. "Sakura-chan, any ideas?" she asked, ready for the challenge.

* * *

Aoko ordered Kaito a fish sandwich because he was being a jerk. No wonder he flipped. XD

So, in the vein of Conan, there's always a mystery no matter whey they go, and this time's no exception. It won't be anything elaborate, though, so don't expect anything like that. I also wrote out the first draft of the final chapter earlier today, so I can now tell you for certain there'll be fourteen chapters total, with no epilogue.

The next chapter will feature the rest of the murder (which wasn't premeditated and left plenty of evidence) as well as the rest of the Sakura-Kid conversation.

I also would like to thank everyone that's still reading, since I know a KaiShin story that doesn't really have much KaiShin in it is more than a little weird. So thanks for sticking with it. And leave a favorite and a review if you'd like! :)


	12. Kaito Gets Discovered

This is the second part of the restaurant conversation, which is equally funny, awkward, and downright dangerous at times. I had a lot of fun writing this, incidentally. Also, like I said last chapter, the case isn't especially difficult, so don't expect it to be. I don't even name the suspects.

* * *

Chapter Twelve

While Sera was out in the main room questioning witnesses, Sakura was poking around the crime scene looking for clues. 'The victim was cooking in the corner, which has no windows or doors apart from the closet. The kitchen has no security cameras, but there are cameras stationed both in the dining area and right outside the back door. The area in the back alley was used for employees taking a smoke break. There were seven chefs, a manager, and four waitresses at the time. The victim went to the bathroom five minutes before he was found, and when he reentered the kitchen, there were only three chefs present. Nobody else reentered until the waitress who screamed. She found him about two minutes after he died.'

Sakura examined the victim's workstation for clues. The cops had turned off the stove, so there was a half-cooked pan of vegetables just sitting there. 'What a waste of food,' Sakura thought in annoyance. The stove didn't have any clues, but then she realized there was a faint burning smell coming from it. She used a handkerchief to lift up the pan and found a partially burned piece of paper stuck between it and the burner. It was a flameless burner, which explained why the paper hadn't already turned to ash.

"Hey, Tome-san?" she said, catching the attention of the CSI guys working in the area. She pointed out the paper, so they dumped out the food and took the paper and the pan away. 'I guess I'll see what that is later,' Sakura thought.

She entered the main part of the kitchen to look for any more clues. The knife had been removed and dropped in a bin by the killer before fleeing, so that meant there were probably bloody clothes somewhere. They couldn't be in any of the normal trash bins, because otherwise they would've been found already. They also couldn't have left the kitchen.

Sakura glanced around the kitchen. 'If I were panicking, where would I hide my stuff?' she thought. She glanced up and saw that on the tops of the cabinets there was a few centimeters of space between them and the ceiling. There was also a convenient stepstool nearby to get into the upper cabinets.

"Sakura-chan, what are you doing?" Sato asked as Sakura moved the stepstool into place and got on top. Sakura said nothing, instead donning a pair of rubber kitchen gloves and pulling out a bloody kitchen apron and a pair of bloody gloves from their hiding place.

"I'd imagine these were disposed of quickly with bare hands," said Sakura, showing them off but keeping them at arm's length.

XXX

An hour later, the results came back, proving definitely which chef was the killer, which matched what Sera had learned about who owed who money. "He found out I was passing off cheap fish as more expensive kinds, so he was blackmailing me. He kept asking for more and more money until I went completely broke and I couldn't take it anymore! It was stressing me out so badly and I couldn't go to the police because he'd just start taking money from my parents instead of me! I couldn't get them involved with this!" The man fell to his knees sobbing before he continued ranting. "People just don't know how expensive legitimate fish is, and they couldn't tell the difference anyways! I was doing the customers a favor by keeping the prices down!"

"We'll talk more at the station," said Megure, motioning for Takagi to take the suspect away.

'Well, that was anticlimactic,' Sakura thought, stretching. 'I guess not every case is going to be a super-difficult puzzle, though.' The paper the culprit had tried to burn had turned out to be a check from the culprit to the victim for a large amount of money.

With the suspect away, Sera took the opportunity to speak with Sakura again. "It's good to see you again, Sakura-chan," she said, smiling. "But you really should talk to Ran-chan at some point; she's really been worried about you. More worried than angry, too."

Sakura still felt hesitant, but seeing Ran as an adult was an opportunity she shouldn't really pass up. "OK, fine; I'll talk to her later once I finish up here."

Unfortunately, that piqued Sera's curiosity. "If you don't mind my asking, what exactly ARE you doing here? You're meeting someone, right? Is it a case?" She looked incredibly interested, which made Sakura wonder whether telling her the truth would be a smart move or not.

"Nah, I'm just meeting some friends for lunch," she replied, waving off her suggestion. It was technically true, but not fully. She knew Sera would pick up on an outright lie, which is why she hadn't done that.

"Meeting friends? In Tokyo?" Sera asked in surprise. "I thought you weren't from here?" Her eyes narrowed suspiciously as Sakura realized, too late, that there was absolutely nothing she could've said to keep Sera away. "Well, you're a nice girl, Sakura-chan, so I figure your friends will be nice, too. Care if I meet 'em?"

Without waiting for an answer, Sera strode out into the main dining area, Sakura racing behind her. 'Wait, she doesn't know where our table was, does she?' Sakura thought. 'So how does she know where to go?'

She soon found out that Sera didn't know where to go, and was only pretending to. As the two of them passed Aoko's table, Aoko spoke up and said, "Oh, are you already done Sakura-san?"

"Yeah, it was a really simple case this time," said Sakura, realizing the reality of her situation.

"Oh, are you friends of Sakura-chan?" Sera asked curiously, turning around. Apparently she'd been waiting either for Sakura to sit down or for one of her companions to speak up.

"Sort of," said Aoko. "We just formally met today."

Cops were still milling around the restaurant, so Sakura and Sera sat across from Aoko to get out of their way. It would still be a few minutes before they opened the doors and let the customers out. "You just met? Is it a case, then?" Sera asked eagerly.

"No, nothing like that," said Aoko. "So, I guess you know Sakura-san, then?"

"Yeah, we have a mutual friend," said Sera. "You see the girl over at my table with the long hair? That's her. You know, you kind of look like her around the eyes."

"Do I?" Aoko said in surprise, looking at Ran some more. "Come to think of it, Kaito and Sakura-san look kind of alike, too. Pretty big coincidence, huh?"

At the mention of his name, Sakura felt Kaito twitch nervously under the table. Considering Sera had kicked him in the face one time on a heist, it wasn't hard to imagine why.

"Oh, is Kaito-san your boyfriend?" Sera teased. Aoko jumped, her face turning pink.

"No, we're just childhood friends," she said quietly. "And he's really annoying anyways! Why would I EVER get involved with him?" She said this last part much more loudly than before before realizing what she'd done and becoming much more subdued. To take their attention off of her, she asked, "So, do you have a girlfriend, Mr…uh, what's your name?"

Sakura sniggered, earning her an elbow in the side from Sera. "Oh, I guess I didn't introduce myself. I'm Sera Masumi, a detective. And no, I don't have a girlfriend."

"She's a girl," Sakura added, making Aoko start in surprise.

"Oh I'm sorry! I just assumed…I'm sorry; Aoko should've asked first!" She bowed several times in apology, but Sera just waved her off.

"It's OK. I get that a lot Aoko-san," Sera replied, smiling gently at her. "But since you asked, there is a guy I'm kind of interested in."

That caught Sakura's attention. Sera hardly ever talked about stuff like that around Ran and Sonoko, or at least nothing that personal. "Oh? What's he like?" she asked innocently.

"Somebody smart, athletic, and who you can count on in a pinch," she said dreamily, before catching herself and looking embarrassed. Both Aoko and Sakura snickered. Sera lowered herself in her seat to hide herself before suddenly becoming distracted. "Hold on, is there somebody under the table?" Without waiting for a response, she ducked her head under the table. There was silence for a moment as she stared at Kaito before saying, "Kudo Shinichi, is that you under there?" Turning to Sakura, she said, "This is why you wanted me to stay away, isn't it?"

Her change in behavior had Aoko very alarmed. "Uh, Sera-san, that isn't…" she began, but Sera wasn't paying attention. "Kudo-kun, get out," she said dangerously, poking her head under the table and jerking a thumb towards Aoko.

Kaito apparently saw no way out of it, so he came out and sat beside Aoko, sitting across from Sakura and diagonally from Sera. Aoko had to scoot over to make room for him. Sera's tone was no longer friendly. "So this is why Ran-chan's been feeling so lonely all these months! You just had to go get another girl and not tell her a thing about it!" She raised a hand threateningly, ready to strike.

"Hold off on the jeet kune do for a minute!" Sakura blurted out. "That's not who you think it is!"

"Yeah, Kaito is Kaito, not your friend's boyfriend!" Aoko added loudly.

Sera looked very surprised. She leaned across the table and looked at Kaito very hard. "So you're telling me this guy is your friend Kaito and not Kudo-kun?" she asked, still staring at him.

"Say something already Kaito!" Aoko said, nudging him.

Kaito began to unconsciously rub his cheek, which seemed a very odd move. "Yeah, I'm a magician, not a detective. Sorry about that." With a flick of his wrist, a tiny stuffed bear appeared in his hand, which he passed over to Sera.

Sera took it, now looking incredibly apologetic. "Uh, sorry for the misunderstanding Kaito-san," she said, bowing to each of the three before quickly making herself scarce. With Sera gone, all three of them breathed a sigh of relief.

"Kaito, you can hide under the table for as long as you want in the future," said Aoko, looking at him sympathetically. Then an unknown expression passed across her face. "But first Aoko needs to use the bathroom." Looking sheepish, she took her purse and quickly walked to the back.

Alone with Kaito, Sakura suddenly felt very embarrassed again. It hadn't been an issue with Aoko around as an intermediary, but now it was. To take her mind off the situation, Sakura took a sip of her drink. The drink breathed a bit of new life into her, which made her decide once and for all to do what she'd come to do.

"Kaito-san, could I ask a question?" she asked, now feeling determined.

"You just did, but sure," said Kaito, who had been busy doing something on his phone.

Sakura went for an indirect approach to try and catch him off guard. "Aoko-san said you've known each other since you were young. That true?"

"Yeah, we've known each other since we were kids. Plus we live practically next door to each other. But even though she can be a total pain sometimes, we're still friends I guess."

"I'm sensing some hostility here," Sakura teased. "Is there something going on I don't know about?"

"Well, there is one thing I guess," he said, now grinning. Holding something in front of her face he said, "You love Kaitou Kid!" in a sing-song tone.

Sakura was very surprised, and had to fight hard to keep from blushing. What he was holding was her keychain of Kid, which he'd somehow stolen right out of her pocket without her realizing.

To take the attention off herself, she retorted, "Like I'd ever like you like that!" Her statement made Kaito freeze in surprise, giving her enough time to snatch the keychain out of his hand. She said it much more harshly than she'd intended, which is probably why he'd been so surprised.

Kaito recovered quickly. "Are you saying I'm Kaitou Kid? You've gotta be joking! I'm much cooler than him!" He laughed heartily, but it didn't fool Sakura one bit. At least their back and forth banter was calming her nerves somewhat.

"Yeah, sure," she said, staring at him with a deadpan look. "Did you think I'm here talking with Aoko by coincidence? I was wanting to track you down to apologize for my attitude the other night. So let's drop the acts, OK?"

The mood soured instantly. "Fine, Minami-chan," said Kaito, now no longer joking. "You found me. You gonna turn me in?"

"Now where's the fun in that?" Sakura asked, staring him down. "I tell you what: I won't turn you in to the cops or tell Ran or Sera you're here if you don't tell Ran I'm here. Deal?"

Kaito took a sip of Aoko's drink. "Fine. So why did you find me?"

"Like I said, I wanted to apologize. I know I wasn't myself during the heist and you seemed kind of worried, so I figured I owed you some kind of explanation."

Kaito looked quite surprised. "You're apologizing to me because you were off your game for one night? Everybody has their bad days, especially when Hakuba gets involved." He looked at the table darkly for a moment before saying, "So seriously, don't worry about it. You had something on your mind, right?"

"Sort of. It's a bit of a personal thing. I don't really know how to describe it, though."

Sakura could see Kaito's mind whirring. "So don't. If it's that much of a personal problem, you're the only one that can solve it. Do what you feel is right, not what the world would prefer you do. Live your life as you see fit and don't let the world dictate it for you."

"That…is actually good advice," Sakura admitted. "Thanks. It makes it hard to believe we're supposed to be enemies."

"I think the correct term is 'rivals'," said Kaito, and they both laughed. "But there's one thing I noticed about you, Sakura."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, you seem like a completely different person when there's no one else around. It's almost like you're pretending to be someone else. You speak in a more masculine way when you're like this."

"Maybe I am a different person," said Sakura vaguely. Seeing Aoko returning, she said, "Well, I appreciate being able to talk with you, Kid. Thanks for not trying to bolt when I outed you." She placed some money on the table to pay for her lunch.

"Well, the Kaitou Kid is a gentleman," Kaito grinned. "Just, uh, don't tell your cousin who I am, OK? Or Hakuba. Or anyone for that matter. I have my reasons for doing what I do, and it's not just for fun." His expression turned dark for a moment before he recovered. "Hope you solve all your problems, Sakura-chan!" he said, waving her off.

"Oh, are you leaving?" Aoko asked as Sakura turned to leave.

"Yeah, I've got something I've got to do later," said Sakura. Then she leaned close and whispered, "Good luck in asking him out, Aoko-chan!" Aoko's face turned bright red as Sakura made for the door. Sakura still didn't know if those two actually would get together, but knowing that Kaitou Kid wasn't available meant she wouldn't think about him in that way anymore.

* * *

So the whole Minami/Kid ship has been more or less put to rest now. If Kid shows up again in the future, this might change, but that's how it is right now. The rest of this story will be setup for future parts, so it's still worth reading, but Kid won't show up again.

I guess I should probably explain why Minami was so conflicted about her feelings in this story. It has been well-established that Ran and Shinichi love each other, and they have for a while, so I can only assume that they love each other not just because of how they look, but because of their personalities. That is, who they are. Makes sense, right? That's why Minami, as a girl, still loves Ran. But Minami, as a girl, isn't physically attracted to Ran anymore; she's physically attracted to guys. That's why her heart started racing whenever she saw Kid. It's more of an emotional attraction that she has for Ran now. And isn't that what love is anyways: you love people for who they are and not how they look? That's why she was so conflicted; she knows she loves Ran, but then Kid, a person she's known for a while, shows up and she falls for him HARD.

That explanation may be a bit too long, and if you don't agree or think I'm being disrespectful or something, feel free to contact me about it. But when barely two people review consistently, I don't know what anybody wants and I have to take more liberties.

Next chapter will be Sakura meeting Ran, which will go into all realms of awkward before it's over. So, please review and look forward to it! :)


	13. Surprise Visitor

It's not particularly long this time, but there's some nice ship tease to make up for it. It won't go anywhere any time soon, though, if at all.

* * *

Chapter Thirteen

Ran was busy studying at home late in the afternoon. She'd enjoyed lunch, as it had let her take her mind off of some of her more glaring problems. Specifically, it was Minami she was worried about. The little girl had been acting very oddly since she'd encountered Kaitou Kid, but she hadn't said a word about it. She always just insisted she was fine and changed the subject.

Another problem was Sakura. Ran hadn't heard a thing from her ever since she'd been put in the hospital. Her last memory of Sakura was of her bleeding out in an alleyway, so she thought it fully justified that she was concerned for her. The fact that she'd gotten Minami to lie for her didn't help either. It made Ran feel hurt, the same way Shinichi lying to her made her hurt.

Minami was currently sitting on one of the couches, reading a fashion magazine. It was kind of odd for her to be reading something like that, but Ran didn't really think much of it since Minami had been acting oddly anyways.

The doorbell rang, making Kogoro, who for once wasn't drunk, look around from his seat at the desk. "If it's a client, and it's not a cute girl, tell them to come back in the morning," he said rudely. He had his horse-racing stuff out, which was most likely why he didn't want any distractions.

Ran rolled her eyes irritably before getting up and going to the door to let the client in. When she opened it, she got the shock of her life. "Sakura…-chan?" she asked, staring at the girl facing her. Then she felt the tears well up. She took a step forward and embraced Sakura tightly. "You silly girl, why didn't you call and say you were OK? I was so worried! I saw you get shot, and then you sent me away without calling an ambulance, and then you lied about going home, so I…" she trailed off, realizing she was just blabbering away. She was still crying, but she didn't care about that.

Ran suddenly felt Sakura hugging her back. "Ran-chan…I'm sorry for worrying you," said Sakura quietly, sounding very subdued compared to normal. She sounded so like Shinichi in how she said that, Ran just felt all her worries slipping away.

The sight of her hugging Sakura must have been too much for Kogoro, because suddenly he was right behind her with a look of rage on his face. "You!" He strode a few steps forward angrily as Ran and Sakura split apart. "First you keep disappearing for months, making Ran worry for you constantly instead of concentrating on her schoolwork, and then you just show up out of the blue and try to seduce her? Not on my watch Kudou Shinichi!" He looked ready to actually get physical, but Ran decided to step in before it came to that.

"Come on Dad! Can't you tell that's not Shinichi! It's Sakura-chan!"

Kogoro stopped, looking between Ran and Sakura. "Come to think of it, your hair is longer," Kogoro said, looking at Sakura.

"What kind of apology is that?" Sakura asked, crossing her arms and giving him a deadpan stare. She might always talk in a very masculine way, but it was quite obvious her voice was feminine. Come to think of it, Minami usually talked pretty masculine as well, although it was a lot more subtle.

Kogoro, looking sheepish, muttered, "Sorry," before going away.

"Sorry about him," Ran apologized. "He must've thought you were Shinichi since I was hugging you."

"What, is it illegal for you to hug people?" Sakura asked, making them both laugh. Kogoro shot her a glare before putting his earpiece back in.

"Anyways, I was just studying for school, but would you like to come in?" Ran asked. Sakura nodded, following her inside. Kogoro had returned to his newspaper while Minami barely glanced up. "Look Minami-chan! Sakura-chan came to visit!" Ran exclaimed happily.

"Good for her," said Minami, barely glancing up.

"Come on, can't you be at least pretend to be happy?" Ran asked.

"Sure, I can pretend to," said Minami, finally realizing they weren't going to leave her alone and putting the magazine down. Since when was she so into fashion anyways?

"Long time no see!" Sakura greeted Minami. Minami just stared at her. "Oh, is that the way to greet someone you haven't seen in forever?" Sakura chided. Minami didn't respond, but Sakura didn't seem too surprised. She and Ran sat down across from each other, with Ran next to Minami.

"So Sakura-chan, what are you doing back in town?" Ran asked, closing her book with a thud.

"Oh I just had some business to attend to in town and I thought I'd stop by. I kind of left you hanging when I left last, so sorry."

"Well at least you explained yourself in person, Sakura-chan!" said Ran, waving it off. "That's better than some people I could name." She looked darkly at the floor for a moment, thinking of Shinichi, before putting the thought aside. "So was it a case or something?"

"Nah, just some investigative work. I heard Kaitou Kid disguised as me a while back, so I thought I'd track him down and give him a piece of my mind." She smashed her fist into her palm for extra emphasis, making Ran laugh.

"So? Did you find Kid?" Kogoro asked. Apparently he actually was paying them attention.

"Well I arranged a meeting and went, but it was a dead end. I made some new friends, though. At least, I think I did."

"Well either you did or you didn't," Minami piped up. Sakura gave her a sharp glare.

"Fine, I did," she replied. "There were two of them, a guy and girl. They were students at Ekoda High School. But the guy spent most of his time hiding under the table instead of actually chatting."

"That's kind of odd. Why did he hide?" Ran asked.

"Well, there's only one reason why a guy would choose to hide, isn't there?" Sakura replied vaguely, leaning back and staring up at the ceiling cheekily. Ran noted with surprise that Sakura's chest was actually a bit larger than she remembered. Maybe she wasn't remembering right.

"Oh, what reason is that?" Ran asked. She glanced at Minami, who shrugged.

"Want to help out ojisan?" Sakura asked Kogoro.

"It's because there was an ex-girlfriend there he didn't want to get involved with," said Kogoro boredly.

"Like you do with Eri-san," Minami added.

"Oi! You didn't have to go that far!" Kogoro spluttered as both Ran and Sakura laughed. Sakura laughed in a rather boyish way, which wasn't really surprising considering her rather masculine way of speaking. Ran hadn't really thought about it when she was there before, but when it was just the two of them talking back and forth, it was more obvious.

Changing the subject, Ran asked, "So Sakura-chan, are you sure you're OK from last time?"

Sakura looked at her for a moment before saying, "Oh, yeah that's fine. It healed completely with no damage. Wanna see the scar?"

That took Ran completely off guard. It apparently struck Minami as odd, too, because she was looking at Sakura very oddly. "EH? What are you saying Sakura-chan? Isn't that kind of personal?"

"You're the one asking about it and we're friends, so what does it matter?" Sakura shrugged. "But if you want to see, your dad needs to leave." She jerked a thumb at Kogoro, who scowled.

"Well, I wasn't going to ask that," Ran protested. But even though she said that, she kind of did want to see. She didn't really know why, though. "But if you're offering, I suppose I'll take you up on it," she replied, a little more bashfully than normal.

Kogoro didn't look pleased with that decision at all, but Ran forced him out of the room. When she came back, she found Sakura and Minami in a very heated whispered debate. Seeing Ran had returned, Sakura shooed Minami away. Ran, now feeling decidedly nervous, took a seat on the couch next to Sakura.

"You're sure you're OK with this?" she asked. "It's just…kind of intrusive you know?"

"Well I'm not forcing you or anything," Sakura replied.

But since they'd already forced Kogoro out by now, Ran couldn't exactly back out. And like she'd felt before, for some reason she kind of did want to see. "OK, show me," she said hesitantly.

Now Sakura looked a little hesitant, but she slowly grabbed the hem of her shirt and lifted it up partways. It wasn't high enough to see anything other than her stomach, but it was still more than what most girls were willing to show off to people they barely knew. Ran felt her face going red from embarrassment and saw that Minami's face had done likewise.

"What? Is there something on my face?" Sakura teased, looking at Minami. Minami jumped, then scowled at her before redirecting her attention. Ran took a closer look and saw that there was indeed a small, circular scar from what looked like a bullet. Sakura's stomach was nice and toned, though, which would make sense if she was an athlete.

"So, you play soccer, right?" Ran asked as Sakura put her shirt back down.

"I follow it, but I don't really play it anymore," she replied. "But I could probably join a team and do well if I wanted."

Hearing the shirt-lifting proceedings were over, Kogoro re-entered the room and sat back down. "You know Ran, it's about that time. What're you making tonight?"

Ran thought about it before realizing a problem. "Oh no! I only have enough for three tonight!"

"I guess it's time for you to leave, then" said Kogoro, looking at Sakura with a sharp glint in his eye. Ran caught on instantly to what he was trying to do.

Grabbing Sakura by the arm, she said, "Dad! We're not just going to kick Sakura-chan out after she took the time to visit! We're going down to eat at Poirot!" Upon hearing this, there were two separate reactions from the people in the room. Kogoro looked shocked that Ran was yelling at him, as per the usual, but Minami had taken on a look of panic.

"Ran-chan, you can let go now," Sakura said, making Ran suddenly feel self-conscious. Why had she grabbed Sakura like that anyways? And why had she agreed to look at the scar? Was it because she reminded her of Shinichi?

"Anyways, I'm heading downstairs," said Ran, taking Minami by the hand. "You two had better show up without any fuss!" And with that, she left the room.

* * *

So, can anyone guess what Sakura and Haibara were whispering about? Or why Haibara doesn't want to go to Poirot? (That second one should be obvious.) Next chapter, the final chapter, will include another funny conversation, Amuro being himself, and setup for Part Five.


	14. Bourbon Meets Sakura

The final chapter of this part is now here for your reading pleasure! Like I said before, it's setting up for Part Five. More details at the bottom of this page.

My 1,500 word limit doesn't apply on the last chapter of any of my stories, so there's only one scene this time.

* * *

Chapter Fourteen

Haibara, disguised as Minami, was sitting in Café Poirot while her heart shuddered. Bourbon, Tooru Amuro, was busy working that evening, and he was almost constantly in her view. She'd sat in the far corner of the café as soon as they'd entered, and now the other three were with her as well.

"What's the occasion, Mouri-sensei?" Amuro asked as he brought them their drinks.

"Ran has a friend in town," said Kogoro, pointing at Sakura.

Amuro looked at Sakura. "Oh, aren't you that famous high school detective Kudo Shinichi?"

"Do I look like a boy to you?" Sakura responded, showing him her ponytail. "My name is Sakura. Sa-ku-ra."

"Oh right! My apologies!" he said, before hastily leaving.

"Wow! Amuro-san is…flustered?" Ran remarked, looking between him and Sakura. Sakura took a sip from her drink and paid her curious looks no attention.

'She's right,' Haibara thought. 'Is Kudo-kun really that pretty as a girl? Especially since Bourbon would be interacting with Vermouth a lot.' That name made her unconsciously shiver.

Kogoro stared at Sakura for a moment before going back to his drink. "Yeah, I don't see what the big deal is. You're not that pretty, you know."

"Gee, thanks for that," said Sakura sarcastically.

"Don't listen to him, Sakura-chan," said Ran apologetically. "You're very pretty, in a boyish kind of way."

"You shouldn't flatter her, Ran-san; Shinichi-san will get jealous," Haibara remarked. Ran's face went bright red at once.

"Minami-chan, don't say things like that!" she chided, very flustered. Sakura, who was sitting next to Haibara, grabbed her by the shoulders, making her suddenly very self-conscious.

"Yeah, you need to be nicer to your elders," Sakura said, squeezing her gently.

'Kudo-kun, you'll pay for this later,' Haibara thought, breaking free of her grip. They continued goofing around until their food arrived about ten minutes later.

"Sorry for the wait, you guys!" Azusa said, looking apologetic. "We've been having a problem with one of the stoves all day!"

"Nah, don't worry about it!" Kogoro replied.

"Anyways, I think something's up with Amuro-kun!" said Azusa, taking on a sneaky look.

'This could be trouble,' Haibara thought, instantly paying attention.

"What's up?" Sakura asked at once, beating Kogoro to the punch.

"Well, when he entered the kitchen after giving you your drinks, he was acting kind of odd. Maybe the term for it is…happy? Or conflicted? In any case, he was acting odd."

Ran looked at Sakura excitedly and said, "I told you he was into you, Sakura-chan! You should totally ask him…"

"Sorry, but I'm not interested," Sakura butted in, cutting her off.

"No, you should go for it," said Kogoro. "It'll keep you away from Ran."

"Dad!" Ran complained.

"I'm NOT interested," Sakura repeated, no longer sounding friendly. Azusa, seeing she'd made a mistake, wisely went away.

"She has somebody at home," Haibara interjected. Sakura gave her a sharp glare, but Haibara didn't care. She was getting her revenge for being forced to endure an hour in Bourbon's presence, and she was enjoying every minute of it. And she wasn't about to take that out on Ran, so Sakura would have to do.

"Oh REALLY?" Ran asked, sounding delighted. "What's he like?"

"They're kind of cute, into karate, and she looks like Ran-san," said Haibara, taking a sip of her drink.

"Oi! Quit saying random things!" Sakura burst out, heavily embarrassed. "Especially when they're not true!"

"So there isn't anybody?" Ran asked.

"No," said Sakura, still glaring at Haibara. "She's just saying that 'cause she wants to be contrary." Haibara, satisfied with her revenge, felt a little happier.

She glanced over at Bourbon, who was busy serving another table. Bourbon actually was kind of cute, but she knew perfectly well just how dangerous he was. And if he did like Sakura, that would cause a whole host of other problems. But the chances of that happening were pretty slim. But then she watched in horror as Bourbon returned to their table.

"Can I get you anything else, Mouri-sensei?" he asked.

"Maybe just a refill," said Kogoro, indicating his nearly empty glass of beer.

"Anybody else want anything?" he asked the table at large. "Sakura-san, how about you?"

"No thank you," she replied. Haibara noticed she was making a distinct effort to talk more like a girl. Unfortunately, Ran seemed to notice it, too. She didn't say anything, but the way she was looking between Sakura and Bourbon said a lot.

"Then I'll bring you that coffee, Mouri-sensei!" said Bourbon happily.

"You know, it's getting late, so I think I'd better get going," said Sakura, putting some money on the table. "Amuro-san, could I get a takeout container for my food?"

Bourbon looked quite surprised. "I don't know if we can do that, but I'll go check." He walked off and went to talk to the owner.

"You're leaving already?" Ran asked.

"Yeah, sorry. I'm heading off to another case. By the way, Minami-chan, didn't you have a sleepover with your friends at Agasa-hakase's tonight?"

There wasn't anything planned, but Haibara nodded anyways, picking up on her intentions. "Yeah, I guess so. What about it?"

"Well, I'll take you over there before I leave. I have to pick up a few things anyways."

Bourbon returned with the requested containers. "All we have are empty bento boxes. Are those OK?"

"Yeah, that's fine," said Sakura. "And we'll take two of them, please." Bourbon shrugged, then handed over two boxes and refilled Kogoro's drink before going back to work. Sakura and Minami then put their leftover food in the boxes.

"You're really leaving again?" Ran asked, looking a little sad.

"Not permanently," Sakura reassured her. "It'll just be a little while. And while I'm gone, I'll let Minami-chan hold down the fort. Right, Minami-chan?" she patted the girl on the shoulder. Haibara nodded again.

With the food packed up, the two girls left the café. They walked in silence for a few minutes before Haibara started talking. "So, am I supposed to be thanking you?"

"For getting you away from Amuro-san? You can if you want. He never would've noticed you, though. He was looking at me the whole time, and his gaze was giving me the creeps."

"Isn't that just because you're a cute girl?" Haibara teased.

"Not with him, no," said Sakura. "Do you remember when we met Vermouth up in Hokkaido? She said she was trying to make an honest living, but I don't buy that for a minute. She was up there because the Organization is interested in me for some reason. And now Bourbon was looking me over. Maybe you were right about it being too dangerous for Kudo Sakura right now."

"Why would they be interested in you, though? You've never had any contact with them before!"

"Yeah, I know. And that's what's got me worried. Whatever the reason, though, it looks like I've got to take them out before I return as an adult of either gender now."

"So? You've got a plan, right?"

"I'll think of one. Maybe I can use their interest in me to my advantage, though." She smirked, suddenly coming upon an idea. "Yeah, I think that'll work."

"Are you going to tell me your plan this time?" Haibara asked.

"In due time. There's going to be a lot of preparation first, though. But you'll be the key, Haibara."

'I don't like where this is going,' Haibara thought. "So this is your revenge for me mouthing off in there, isn't it?"

"Considering you didn't lie, it's not really worth it, is it? Besides, if I took revenge for every time you snarked at me we wouldn't be friends anymore, would we?"

"You aren't really talking like yourself anymore," Haibara noticed. "How do I put this? You're more…outgoing than before."

"Maybe I'm just setting an example for someone I know," Sakura teased, patting her head. Haibara flinched from the contact.

"How rude!" she replied, mock offended. "I'm plenty outgoing!"

"Yeah, yeah, Ms. 84-yea…" Sakura began, but stopped suddenly, clutching her chest. "I thought this was supposed to last 24 hours!" she exclaimed, a pained look on her face. Just as quickly, she straightened up. "Well, we'd better get a move on, Haibara. We don't want to stick around here in case people are stalking us."

Haibara glanced around, but didn't see anybody. "Yeah, you're right," she said, following her lead.

END OF PART FOUR

* * *

For my end of story notes this time, I'd just like to say that I enjoyed coming up with the silly scenarios in this story as much as I did with the other parts. While the number of reviews wasn't nearly as high as I've gotten for the other parts, I'm honestly not that surprised since this is my second new story in two years, so hardly anybody who was around then is still around now, and people around now don't know who I am. Plus, this is Part Four, so the readers would have to read through the other three parts first, and I can't expect anybody to have that kind of time.

But for those of you who read, reviewed, Favorited, or just enjoyed the story without responding at all, I appreciate you taking your time to read through it completely. If you don't mind, feel free to read some of my other works if you'd like. :)

As for my future plans, I'm still working on my original novel in my off time, and I've been staggering that with writing fanfiction and schoolwork this whole time. That won't change. As for Part Five, I won't write it immediately, as I'd like to write another _Detective Conan_ story first, but I'll write it eventually. Hit the 'Author Alert' option at the bottom of this page so you'll know when that happens.

I don't know when I'll start my next fanfiction story, but I've got the idea for it so all I really need to do is start writing. It'll be more goofy than serious, like the Minami Edogawa series and _Summer Vacation_ , so I hope you'll read it when the time comes. And it won't be a romance, FYI. :D

Signing off,

CoolKid94


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